Nao is a Japanese calligrapher.
This blog site shows basic Japanese characters written by Nao.
All the comments are written by Nao’s sister, Alice.
Dictionaries We Most Frequently Consult
- Gotai Jirui (5 sets of characters in calligraphy), rev. 3rd ed.
- Kenkyusha’s New English-Japanese Dictionary, 6th ed.
- Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English Dictionary, 5th ed.
- Shinkangorin
, a kanji dictionary
- Daijisen, a Japanese-Japanese Dictionary
- Meikyo Kokugojiten
, a Japanese-Japanese Dictionary
- Wiktionary, a wiki-based Open Content Dictionary
Japanese Characters include kanji, hiragana and katakana.
What do Japanese Characters look like in Japanese calligraphy?
-> Visit Picture Indexes.
September 1, 2009 at 10:04 am
Hi Nao
Nice Work!
I found your page, while I was searching a kanji for intellect (ri and chi – sounds like my name and the meaning is also not bad) to embroider on my judo-belt.
Would be nice, if you can do this once?
Kind regards Richie
September 1, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Hi, Richie!
Thank you for commenting. Embroidering on your belt sounds nice. I will tell Nao about your request. I think we can put them up next week.
Best regards,
Alice
November 29, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I am so happy to have discovered your website. Your michi is very genki and beautiful. Your path must be the same. I am “Forever learning, forever young.” I believe that is Mitsuo Aida’s motto. It feels just right to me.
November 30, 2009 at 4:30 am
I’m glad to hear you find our website. Yes, we love to learn. Let’s keep learning and stay young. Thank you for telling us Mr. Aida’s encouraging words.
December 1, 2009 at 10:45 am
What is the difference between blog ‘Japanese Words in Japanese Calligraphy by Nao’ and ‘Basic Japanese Characters’?
December 1, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Thank you for asking a good question. We are uploading only one character each time to this blog, ‘Basic Japanese Characters,’ while ‘Japanese Words’ are compounds that consist of the characters.
Here at ‘Basic Japanese Characters’, we would like to show you what each character means, what kinds of compounds it makes, and how you draw the character.
January 11, 2010 at 8:28 am
Great job!
You really have a refined website with a great purpose. I really like it! In fact, so much so that I would like to create a link on my blog to yours. I’m writing something up on Eastern and Western calligraphy but just let me know if you’d rather I not include the link and I’ll remove it immediately.
Keep up the good work!
~Dorian
January 11, 2010 at 9:43 am
Dorian Wacquez, thank you for giving us a sincere message and asking about linking. I’m glad to hear you like this blog. You are welcome to create a link to our blog.
I find your blog interesting. Learning three languages at the same time! They are quite different languages with different characters. How admirable!
March 10, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Hi Nao
I don’t know english and japanese.
I’m graph from Poland and I would like to make japanese calendar.
Please help me.
I need Japanese Calligraphy – mounth and days in week to joint in calendar.
Regards
March 10, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Hi,
We’ve just added a new page “Numbers etc” (http://wp.me/PAlaB-1i3).
Is this what you need?
Words are linked to characters.
Please click on each word.
Thank you for visiting our blog.
April 13, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Hi Nao and Alice.
My fathers birthday is coming up and my brother and I were thinking about a special gift to him.
But we are still searching for the right terms in Japanese aswell as the right characters to go along with it.
Can you help us?
Thanks in advance and best regards!
April 15, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Hi, Dorothy! Thank you for giving us a comment.
Sending your father a birthday message is a wonderful idea.
We are wondering what kind of message you would like to give him.
A common message is “otanjōbi omedetō （お誕生日おめでとう）,” meaning “happy birthday.”
“Arigatō (ありがとう)” is also common. It means “thank you.”
If he is old, “genkide nagaiki shitekudasai (元気で長生きしてください),” which means “please take care and enjoy longevity,” may be a good one.
Another possible message is “anatano ko de yokatta (あなたの子でよかった)” meaning that we are lucky to be your children or I’m lucky to be your child.
Celebration is iwai (祝い). How about some messages using this word.
“kanreki no oiwaini (還暦のお祝いに）” means “for the celebration of your 60th birthday”
“70 sai no oiwaini (70歳のお祝いに）” means “for the celebration of your 70th birthday.”
By the way, the character meaning father is coming out this weekend.
Have a good day.
April 25, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Thank you for this info already.
It’s a great help!
I do have one more question.
Our father and us are planning on starting a budo club.
We’ve searched some terms and came up with Shogakko budo… as in “fundamental budo”.
If however I reverse my translation, I get elementary schools as a result.
Can you please verify if Shogakko budo is a correct term?
And if it is indeed correct does the Shogakko kanji go before or after the budo ones?
Thanks a lot for all your help!
Greetings from Europe
April 25, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Hi!
I’m glad to hear it worked.
Shogakko is an elementary school. It doesn’t mean fundamental.
I think fundamental Budo should be kiso budo (基礎武道) or kihon budo (基本武道). Both kiso and kihon mean basic.
I hope this helps you.
Thank you for visiting again.
April 18, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Hi, Dorothy.
We’ve just uploaded the word keiju at http://wp.me/pGodX-69. This word is also good for your father’s birthday if he is old.
Hope it will help you.
July 20, 2010 at 7:48 pm
すみません、この漢字は本当にきれいでかこいです。
おいそがしいところ本当に申しわけございませんがちょっとおねがいがあるんですが。
僕は日本で一年間大学で勉強して日本人が会ってデートしています。今ぼくの国に帰ったけれども恋人はぼくのために三週間来ているのでぼくはこいびとの名前をきれいな書きたいとおもいます。僕は日本人じゃないので漢字を書いたらちょっときたなくなってしまうのでなおさんは恋人の名前を書いて見せていただきませんでしょうか？
July 21, 2010 at 1:08 am
ナオさん、
こちらのブログは素晴らしいですね。初級の漢字をまた練習することができ。だが、中級または上級の漢字もポストする予定があり。
宜しくね。
July 21, 2010 at 2:06 am
Basicといってますが、ときどきむずかしい漢字をあげています。
漢字の練習がんばってください。
コメントありがとうございました。
September 19, 2010 at 1:19 am
私はバカですね! Just now I realized that Nao-san and Alice-san were two different persons, hahaha!
Allow me to compliment both of you here, then! Many thanks for this 立派な blog!
September 19, 2010 at 2:25 am
Thiago Leal-san,
The way we present blog posts confuses you, doesn’t it? I sometimes feel it from comments given us. I need to think it over. Thank you for letting me know.
We are grateful to you for your compliment.
Hope you can enjoy seeing and reading!
September 19, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Dear Nao san and Alice san,
I have been re-reading the comments here because of being notified of the new ones posted and remembering that I asked a question about my gago but never followed through on sending to you a photo.
I admire what you are doing and think that the present form is perfectly fine. There is no need to simplify things. You did respond to my desire to know the stroke order of characters and added that in the past, something for which I am truly grateful. I trust your paths.
I have been studying Japanese calligraphy with a Sensei who speaks no English. I did not study Japanese formally and set out to find a teacher without being able to say much at all. Yet much can be communicated without words. Now I can speak Japanese with my teacher but the speaking sort of came along with the calligraphy. Just as in studying calligraphy, if you wish to learn well, in this day and age of computer learning, it is important to pay close attention and spend time. I am as guilty of this lack of concentration as anyone. I have to remind myself to slow down, to breathe. I do so immediately now if I have a brush and ink to write. But on the computer, I often flit from one thing to another. If you spend time on this blog, you will learn much and not find it confusing. No one is “baka”, I too did not understand at first about Alice and Nao.
My study of calligraphy and Japanese is life-long learning, and I never expect to put together even most of the pieces of this wonderful and mysterious and fulfilling puzzle that is Shodo and Nihongo. There are a few very special learning resources I treasure. This is one of them along with being introduced to Dorian Wacquez whose writings I find interesting and inspirational. Grateful to this new world of sharing, I remind myself constantly that what is worth learning or sharing takes time, attention, and making careful choices.
Be well all,
Best,
Rona
September 21, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Dear Rona san
Hello. Thank you for giving us a very sincere and warm comment.
And it is delightful to know that you kindly acknowledge this blog as one of your few specials. We also feel lucky to have loyal visitors like you.
I (Alice is writing this as usual.) agree with your idea. “Much can be communicated without words.” We can communicate through cultural media like calligraphy. When I was a serious calligraphy learner and learned Chinese classic calligraphy, I always felt as if I was communicating with ancient calligraphers. Although this method is rather one-way, your encouraging message gives me a hint about more interactive ways. When you wish to learn something and I have something to share with you, communication becomes possible. Nao seems to be optimistic about this aspect of non-verbal communication. She doesn’t write or understand English as much as I do but I’m sure her works have more impact than my English and much doesn’t have to be explained as far as calligraphy concerns. I think this is possible thanks to you because you are the one who wishes to know what it is and learn how it is.
We appreciate your visits and comments.
Sincerely,
Nao and Alice
October 27, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Hello Nao and Alice,
I wanted to say thank you so very much for providing this website! I have always been greatly interested in learning more about Japanese characters and calligraphy and it made me very happy to find your blog. Beautiful writing and so much information!
I also have a curious question for you. I am interested in purchasing a candleholder set that has calligraphy characters on the votives – before buying it I wanted to ask if you would be able to read the designs and explain what they mean, or if you could tell whether they are actually Japanese, Chinese or if they are even real!
Here is an image of the candle set I am interested in:
https://www.snedcowholesale.com/images/13000/13054.jpg
I am excited to know what you have to say about the meanings!
Thank you so much,
Jill
October 27, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Hello Jill,
Thank you for commenting and asking.
The candleholders say seasons: winter, spring, and summer – from left to right.
From our blog entries, winter is here -> http://calligraphernao.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/winter/
spring is here -> http://calligraphernao.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/spring/
summer is here -> http://calligraphernao.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/summer/
And the other side must be autumn. Autumn is ->http://calligraphernao.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/autumn/
Hope this helps you.
Have a good day!
November 20, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Just a quick comment to thank you for the effort you put into the blog. I enjoy writing Kana and Kanji and have found the information on this blog and the way it is laid out very useful.
There is a lot to digest but I am energised and ready to read! Thanks again.
Regards,
Jason.
November 21, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Jason,
Thank you for dropping by and leaving a kind comment.
Yeah, hard to digest…
I’ve been wondering whether I should make the contents more organized. Your comment gave me a good motivation to do so.
Have a great week!
December 1, 2010 at 9:53 am
Hi to both of you,
I love Nao’s calligraphy very much.
For a long time, I have considered getting a Kanji tattoo behind my neck at the bottom of my hair, but it is hard to choose the Kanji. After all, tattoo is permanent, so it the meaning is very important.
I have suffered depression and suicidal thoughts since childhood. Do not worry, I am now taking good care of myself, playing music for my soul and receiving medication for my body.
I would like for my tattoo a Kanji that I could think about when life becomes hard (when death becomes too tempting)… Maybe something like “protection”? To ward off death (keep me from committing suicide)? Keep my mind and soul strong.
Or is there a word that uses the Kanji “hi” (fire)? I am a sagittarius, which is a sign of fire. Fire is a big part of me. I have a lot of passion, the fire inside my heart keeps me alive.
At the moment, the Kanji I am considering for the tattoo are:
- tamashii
- ki
- jinsei
- inochi
- ikiru
- hi
- nen
- mamoru
If you think one of the above is a good choice, please let me know. Or if one of the above is a wrong choice, please also do. If you have an idea, I would like your suggestion.
Thank you and keep up the great work, it is very inspiring,
Josiane
December 1, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Josiane, thank you for sharing your story with us and asking us about your big decision. Could you give us some time to reply your question? We would like to give you the best suggestion after considering your situation and the list of kanji you gave us. I think we can reply within a week. Thank you. Have a good day!
December 1, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Hi,
Thank you very much for your answer, take all the time that you need.
If you have another, better idea, I will appreciate your suggestion.
Josiane
December 7, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Josiane,
Hi! Sorry for the late reply. So far we agreed “tamashii” is the best character from your list. It is very spiritual and powerful. Some of your choices are good. We don’t recommend verbs like “ikiru.”
Good ones are
- tamashii
- ki
- inochi
Not bad but we don’t recommend for some reasons.
- hi … Especially in your case. We think it is too strong for you because you already have fire inside.
- nen … In our opinion, this sounds to be related to Buddhist prayer.
The followings are not good.
- jinsei … We use this word when we look back our life or think about life courses.
- ikiru … Verbs don’t sound sharp.
- mamoru … This one is also a verb.
Other possibilities are
- kokoro (heart) …http://calligraphernao.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/heart/
- ritsu (to control) …http://calligraphernao.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/to-rule-or-to-control/
Considering your situation, we believe you need something that controls your life. “Fire” works either in the right way or in the wrong way. In whichever way it works, it does very strongly. So we recommend “ritsu,” too.
Hope it will help you. Have a good day!
December 7, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Thank you very much for your precious time and your personnal answer. It is very appreciated.
Josiane
December 9, 2010 at 5:22 pm
I have made my decision for the Kanji tattoo. Surprisingly, it’s none of those we discussed before, before after some thinking I realized that most of them had a second more dark meaning that could influence me negatively, or that their meaning was too large and not personnal enough. I have a very personnal story to this that will help me keep on living even through difficult times:
One day I met an Haitian woman who was a voodoo priest. She said that in her country, suicide is so uncommon that when she arrived in Canada, she didn’t know the meaning of the word. One of the reason is that in Haiti, the community is very tight, and people support those who are going through hard times (instead of taking their distances from them). The second reason is that everybody believe that there is a “treasure” meant for them, that they could miss if they went before their time. The treasure here doesn’t have a material meaning, it is a life treasure, something intrinsically very personnal.
So, my decision is between the kanjis for HIHOU and TAKARA. From what I understood, the first means “hidden treasure” and the second “treasure”. In what context would a japanese favor one word over the other? Which of the two decribes best the meaning of the treasure in the above story?
Thank you again!
December 13, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Josiane,
Very sorry for the late reply. I have tried to send once. Although it took us for a few hours to do it or because of it, I was disconnected and the comment disappeared. Now I’m trying again.
Intrinsic treasure sounds great. The problem is we don’t have equivalent words. It is true that takara is treasure. It means both treasure and wealth. As wealth implies, it is more materialistic than mental. Our image about takara is a fortune in gold, silver, gems, etc. On the other hand, hiho reminds me of a famous tourist facility called hihokan, where sexy dolls are exhibited. As this facility implies, hiho is something hidden but you can enjoy.
We are sorry to tell you that we haven’t come up with any idea.
Let us give you an alternative. You told us that you have fire inside. You would like to show intrinsic treasure. From your comments, we presume your intrinsic treasure is fire. You can think about characters with the “fire” radicals.
Most kanji with “fire” radicals have strong meanings. This character is one of the exceptions.
http://calligraphernao.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/natural-status-or-as-it-is/
The four dots represent “fire.”
How do you think about this? Please let us know your idea.
December 12, 2010 at 5:21 pm
What an interesting and personal exchange via the internet. Since tamashii is part of my Kanji name, I am particularly fond of that character, but I also really love treasure. I look forward, as always, to the answer to Josiane’s question. The difference between something of monetary value and something which is priceless lies in the soul. I think that they are all inter-connected just as are we who write on this blog. Smiling………
December 13, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Thanks, looking forward to their answer. I don’t usually unveil my life on the internet like that, but I love Nao’s calligraphy and this is, after all, a lifetime decision. A tattoo is forever, and meant to be that way. I don’t believe in tattoo removal.
December 14, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Rona,
I appreciate your warm comment on this topic. Inter-connection and exchanging give us enormously affluent ideas about words and thoughts. Comments and questions given to us here make me realize my lack of explanation, things I failed to mention or even facts I didn’t realize when I wrote the original posts.
Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a good day!
December 13, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Oh… I thought that for parents, their children were like treasures (kodakara), so I thought takara could also have a non-materialistic meaning to takara? Children are non material wealth… Of course, I don’t as a tattoo want a Kanji that only means material wealth. What I meant for treasure is something that you have to wait for in life… The good things that could happen and that you have to hope for…
December 14, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Josiane,
The single word “takara” and “takara (dakara)” in kodakara mean something you value. Kodakara is children parents value more than any other treasure. It implies kodakara is a kind of treasure but a different kind of treasure from the original takara. It is more valued and important because it’s a treasure called “ko (children).” In other words, there is no other treasure parents could value than children.
I still feel takara is materialistic even if we can value. Some people value material things like money.
Possibly, Japanese or kanji culture doesn’t have such an idea the Haitian woman inspired you. Inspirationally, we came up to the phrase “naimen no bi,” which means inner beauty. However, this does not have so much power as your inner treasure does.
Thank you for rephrasing your idea. The closest character may be inochi. This is our best solution so far. It means not only life but also destiny.
Please give us your idea until you get the most satisfactory answer. Have a good day!
December 14, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Thank you, I will surely look into inochi, it was in my initial choices, but for some reason I still prefer takara. I have to think about it.
January 3, 2011 at 5:31 am
Thank you very much for this site! This is a great place to learn the difference between similar words and get cultural/linguistic background on kanji, which helps me remember them much better.
January 3, 2011 at 7:00 am
Thank you for visiting and commenting. From your comment, we felt we are doing exactly what we want to do here. Although information about kanji we are presenting here is not comprehensive, we hope this blog is useful and interesting.
Happy New Year!
August 30, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Hajimete o meni kakarimas dozo yoroshiku.
Hello I am wondering if you could please help me with interpreting a set of Kanji that are on a calligraphy that my former Kendo Sensei, ASAOKA Mitsuru San, Hanshi, made for me many years ago, and offered me as the name of my own Dojo.
It is written with ancient patterns. If you go to my wordpress blog, in the Biography section, Visite du Dojo sub section, you will see the calligraphy.
I know what the calligraphy reads and I have the explanation of what ” i teki ken dojo ” means, but it’s the breakdown of each kanji into radicals (bushu) that I would like to know.
Thank you for your much anticipated insights.
Arigato Gozaimasu.
Sincerely;
Philippe.
September 23, 2011 at 2:13 am
Dear Philippe,
Sorry for my late reply. Our current main blog is at
http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com/bjc/
so I rarely check this blog these days.
As for your question, I belive you know the first character, which means one. In our blog you can find ichi at
http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com/bjc/2009/07/one/
I’ll try to explain about the rest of the word.
teki … This is almost equivalent to yaku. It means “to leap” or “to dance.” You can see yaku in our blog, too.
http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com/bjc/2010/10/to-leap/
Teki not only means “to dance” but also means “to jump up.”
The radical or the left part of the character is “to run.” The right radical is “to aspire.”
ken … This is a fist or courage. It also means a kind of the martial arts. The radical or the lower part is hand. The upper radical is “to roll in.”
To read about dojo, visit
http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com/bjc/2009/10/way/
and
http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com/bjc/2011/04/a-field-or-a-place/
Hope it will help you.
For further questions, please leave a comment somewhere in
http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com/bjc/
Thanks.