To Compel

"To Compel" by Nao

sema-ru, haku

If there is somebody or something behind you and they are approaching you, they are in the state of semaru. Semaru is a verb which means to press somebody. When you urge somebody to do something, you are doing an action called semaru. Its past tense is sematta.

Deadlines tend to affect you in this way. In Japanese, deadlines come from behind. If a deadline (shimekiri) is a subject, it comes from behind (semaru). We say, therefore, “shimekiri ga semaru.” If you are the subject of the sentence, you are chased by a deadline, that is, “shimekiri ni owareru.” Owareru means to be chased.

Kyōhaku means coercion.

Something powerful and spectacular has hakuryoku, which means a dramatic impact.

---

1. Draw the sweeping dot on the top.
2. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
3. Draw the hook.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
5. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the dot in the upper left corner.
7. Draw the crooked stroke. Change the direction of the brush three times.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke at the bottom.

In an Orderly Fashion

Please click -> here to find information on this character and visit http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com
for more characters.

Inverse or Reverse

"Inverse or Reverse" by Nao

saka-rau, saka-sa, gyaku

Inverse or reverse is gyaku or sakasa. Sakasa often means upside down. This character also means the opposite or the contrary. Words including this are gyakusetsu (a paradox), gyakujō (frenzy), gyakufū (an adverse wind). “Gyakusetsuteki na,” which always accompanies a noun, means paradoxical. “Gyakujōsuru” means to go wild with rage.

The verb “sakarau” means to resist, to oppose, to go against, or to act contrary to something.

When we talked about the character meaning dreams, we mentioned dreams going by contraries. If you see sakayume, the opposite of what happens in dreams happens in reality.

The word “gyakuni” functions as a conjunction or an adverb. It means “on the contrary.”

---

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the sweeping dot from the top right.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke.
4. Draw the L-shaped stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke from the middle of the horizontal stroke to the lower left.
7. Draw the dot in the upper left corner.
8. Draw the crooked stroke. Change the direction of the brush three times.
9. Draw the sweeping stroke at the bottom.

Tasty

"Tasty" by Nao

uma-i, shi

Umai means tasty. We rarely write “umai” with this kanji. Instead, we often write and see the word “umai” in hiragana or katakana.

We are showing this character as basic because this character appears as part of other characters.

It is useful to learn how to write this.

---

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the upper right.
2. Draw the curve with an upward turn.
3. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the hook.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
6. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

To Pierce

"To Pierce" by Nao

sa-su, shi

The verb sasu means to pierce, thrust, or stub. The passive form of sasu is sasareru. By whom?

Being bitten by a mosquito is in a situation expressed as “ka ni sasareru.” In this phrase, ka is a mosquito. Being stung by a bee is in a situation expressed as “hachi ni sasareru.” In this, hachi is a bee. As you might guess, the particle “ni” means “by” in these phrases.

Like the passive form of sasu, the verb sasaru means to be pierced. If somebody says, “toge ga sasatta,” they mean a thorn pricks their finger. In this sentence, toge is a thorn and sasatta is the past tense of sasaru.

Satire is fūshi. Embroidery is shishū. The shū of shishū is too complicated to remember. We usually write shū in hiragana. If you want to see the kanji character for it, visit -> here.

Tattoos are written as tattoo in katakana these days. They are also known as irezumi, which consists of today’s character and another kanji character meaning blue.

Name cards and business cards are meishi.

---

1. Draw the horizontal line.
2. Draw the vertical stroke to the left.
3. Draw the hook with an upward turn.
4. Draw the vertical line.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from the middle of the vertical stroke.
6. Draw the dot hanging from the vertical stroke.
7. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the shorter vertical stroke.
8. Draw the longer vertical stroke with an upward turn.

Cloth

"Cloth" by Nao

nuno, fu

Nuno is cloth or fabric.

Futon is a Japanese mattress. The word futon consists of today’s character and dan (a group).

This character also means spreading out as you do with cloth. Words related with this meaning are kōhu (promulgation) and fukoku (declaration). We don’t use these words in daily conversations.

---

1. Draw the sweeping stroke.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke.
3. Draw the shorter vertical stroke.
4. Draw the hook with an upward turn.
5. Draw the longer vertical stroke.

Virtue

"Virtue" by Nao

toku

Virtue, benefits, profit, fortunes, and innate nature are the meanings of this character.

Virtue is toku or bitoku. A virtue is tokumoku. Natural goodness is jintoku. When we were elementary school students, there was a subject called dōtoku, in which we studied morals and ethics.

When you go to the Japanese supermarket and find a label saying, “otokuyō,” it means the product is cheaper than the regular price.

---

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke below the previous stroke.
3. Draw the vertical stroke.
4. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.
6. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
7. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
8. Draw one of the vertical strokes in the rectangle. Draw the left one first.
9. Draw the other vertical stroke in the rectangle.
10. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
11. Begin to draw kokoro (a heart) in the lower right part of the character. Draw the dot to the left.
12. Draw the curve at the bottom with an upward turn.
13. Strike the dot above the curve and make it head to the next dot.
14. Draw the dot beside the curve.

Comical and Playful

"Comical and Playful" by Nao

hai

This hai is the hai of haiku. Haiku is a style of Japanese poetry. A haiku is a short verse composed of three phrases: 5 syllabics, 7 and 5. For more information about haiku, visit the post -> haiku and tanka.

A haiku poet is haijin.

---

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke.
2. Draw the vertical stroke touching the previous stroke.
3. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the long sweeping stroke from the top.
4. Draw the upper left horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
6. Draw the lower left horizontal stroke heading toward the next stroke.
7. Draw the vertical line.
8. Draw the upper right horizontal stroke.
9. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
10. Draw the lower right horizontal stroke.

A Role

"A Role" by Nao

yaku, eki

The word “yaku” plays the part of the English “role.”

When you have a particular position and function in society, you first take on the role (yaku wo hikiukeru) and play the role (yaku wo tsutomeru). In these phrases, yaku can be a dutiful job. Similarly, yakume is a duty. If you are overqualified for a particular role, the role is “yakubu soku,” which implies that you are worthy of a better role. Busoku is a voiced sound of fusoku, which means lack of something.

When you act on stage, you act the role of somebody (yaku wo enjiru). An actor is yakusha. An actor who plays the role of a man is otokoyaku; an actor who plays the role of a woman, onnayaku.

Yakunin is civil officers but kōmuin sounds more polite to address them.

A useful phrase is yakunitatsu or yakudatsu. They mean useful.

On the other hand, yakunitatanai and yakudatanai mean useless.

You can see some of these phrases in Japanese -> here.

---

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke below the previous stroke.
3. Draw the vertical stroke.
4. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke.
5. Draw the crooked stroke with an upward turn.
6. Draw the hook. The latter part is a sweeping stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke crossing the previous stroke.

To Sharpen

"To Sharpen" by Nao

to-gu, ken

Togu is a verb meaning to sharpen.

To put the edge of something is expressed as “ha wo togu.”

Sharpening a Japanese long sword is “katana wo togu.” It’s unusual to do so, though.

This verb is also used for washing rice. “Kome wo togu” means to wash rice.

Kenshū means training. The shū of kenshū means to master the skills of something. Its verb “kenshūsuru” means do training.

Kenkyū is research or studies. The kyū of kenkyū means to reach the ultimate goal. Its verb “kenkyūsuru” means to do research or to study.

Kenma means grinding and polishing. The ma of kenma means to polish.

The verb “togisumasu” means to polish up or to sharpen finely. Sumasu is also a verb meaning to make something clear.

If you want to see Japanese for these words, visit ->here.

---

1. Draw the horizontal stroke from the upper left corner.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke touching the previous stroke.
3. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
5. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the other horizontal stroke on the top.
7. Draw the horizontal stroke parallel to the previous stroke.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke crossing the previous stroke.
9. Draw the vertical stroke.