Cherry

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Green

by Nao

midori, ryoku, roku

The color green is midori. Kimidori is light green.

We call spring leaves shinryoku whose literal meaning is new green.

Ryokuō shokuyasai means brightly colored vegetables such as spinach and carrots.

Ryokucha is green tea.

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the short stroke from almost where you finished the last stroke.
3. Draw the stroke that parallels the first stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal.
5. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left of the vertical stroke.
8. Draw the dot on the other side.
9. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the hook on the top.
10. Draw the horizontal stroke inside the hook.
11. Draw the longest horizontal stroke.
12. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn.
13. Draw the dot from the center.
14. Draw the sweeping stroke under the previous stroke. Make it head toward the next stroke.
15. Draw the sweeping dot from under the right end of the longest horizontal stroke. Make it head toward the previous stroke.
16. Draw the sweeping stroke from the middle of the vertical stroke to the lower right corner of the character. Make it broader at the end by spreading the brush gradually.

In the dictionary, this is categorized as a 14-stroke character. When you write this character with a pen, connect the first and the second strokes, and the third and the fourth strokes.

Rubia

by Nao

akane

Akane is a plant called rubia (madder) or the color madder red.

Draw the upper part first.

1. Draw the dot top left.
2. Draw the horizontal line crossing the first dot.
3. Draw the sweeping dot top right.
4. Begin to draw the lower part. Draw the horizontal line from left to right.
5. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the right-angled hook from the upper left corner of the rectangle to lower right. Stop before changing the direction of the brush and make a nice shoulder. The vertical part is bolder than the horizontal part.
7. Go back to the fourth stroke. Draw the sweeping stroke toward left. It touches the fifth stroke.
8. Draw the curve like the letter L. Don’t press the brush at the corner.
9. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

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Water

by Nao

mizu, sui

Water is mizu. Some Japanese sayings accompany the word, mizu. To leap ahead is mizu wo akeru. Akeru is the verb to open up. Mizu ni nagasu means to forgive and forget. Nagasu is to drain. Mizu no awa is failure. It literally means bubbles in water.

Suidō means waterworks. Sewer is gesuidō.

Tap water is suidōsui.

Suigin is quicksilver.

The color light blue is mizuiro.

1. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn.
2. Draw the hook on the left.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from the upper right corner. Make it head toward the next stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke from the middle of the vertical stroke to the lower right corner. Make it broader at the end by spreading the brush gradually.

Peach

by Nao

momo, tō

Momo is a peach. The color pink is momoiro.

Tōgen or tōgenkyō is a utopia. The origin of the word is in China. And it sounds a little bit classical.

Momotarō is a Japanese folklore hero. He was born from a big peach found by an old couple. They brought him up. He was smart and brave enough to defeat ogres eventually.

Draw the left-hand side of the character first.

1. Draw the horizontal stroke from the left.
2. Draw the vertical line from the top to the bottom.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from the previous strokes intersect.
4. Draw the dot where the previous stroke begins.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from the center top to the center bottom.
6. Draw the small dot near the center.
7. Draw the dot below the previous stroke. Make it head toward the upper right. The sixth and seventh strokes are between the left-hand side and the sweeping stroke, that is, the fifth stroke.
8. Draw the long curve from the top.
9. Draw the sweeping dot from the upper right to the middle of the curve.
10. Draw the elongated curve from the middle of the curve to the lower right.

Crimson

by Nao

beni, kurenai, kō, ku

The color crimson is beniiro or kurenai.

A lipstick is kuchibeni. A lipstick brush is benifude. Fude is a brush.

Red pickled ginger is called benishōga. It is sometimes served as a relish.

Kōcha is English tea.

Kōhaku is red and white. It is a symbol of happy events. Kōhaku uta gassen is a long-running TV show aired once a year. Uta gassen is a singing contest. You can watch the program on New Year’s Eve night.

Shinkō is deep red while senkō is pink. Shin means deep and sen means shallow. Shinkō is also read shinku. Another character is applied for the shin of the other shinku. Having different characters, both mean absolute red. The other character shin means true.

Some flowers have this character for their names. Globe amaranth is sen nichikō. A crape myrtle or an Indian lilac is hyaku jitsukō. It is also known as sarusuberi. Safflower is benibana. Bana is the voiced sound of hana that means flower.

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the short stroke from almost where you finished the last stroke.
3. Draw the stroke that parallels the first stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal.
5. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the vertical stroke under the fourth stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left of the vertical stroke.
8. Draw the dot on the other side.
9. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the horizontal stroke on the top.
10. Draw the vertical stroke between the horizontal strokes.
11. Draw the longer horizontal stroke.

In the dictionary, this is categorized as a 9-stroke character. The first and the second strokes are regarded as one stroke, and the third and the fourth strokes are regarded as one.

Silver

by Nao

gin

The color silver is gin. The gin of ginkgo is this character. The original word is ginkyō and it was mistakenly written as ginkgo before it became an English word. We call it ichō.

Ginga is a galaxy. Ga is a big river. Ginkō is a bank. Kō means a store.

A silver world or a snowy field is described as ginsekai. Sekai is a world.

Start to draw from the left part of the character. The left part is kane (money).

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left. Make it narrower gradually.
2. Draw the dot from where you started the first stroke.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke close to the previous strokes.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke below the previous stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke.
6. Draw the left dot.
7. Draw the sweeping dot on the other side.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke from the lower left corner toward the next stroke.
9. Begin to draw the right part of the character. Draw the right-angled hook.
10. Draw the horizontal stroke inside the rectangle.
11. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom of the rectangle.
12. Draw the vertical line from where you start the ninth right-angled hook.
13. Draw the stroke heading toward the dot below the rectangle. Make it narrower gradually.
14. Draw the dot sweeping toward the previous stroke.
15. Draw the sweeping stroke that goes between the last two strokes. Spread the brush gradually toward the end.

In the dictionary, this is categorized as a 14-stroke character. The twelfth and thirteenth strokes are supposed to be one.

Brown or Tea

by Nao

cha, sa

Ocha is tea. Cha is either tea or the color brown. Kogecha is dark brown color. Koge means burning.

Maccha (matsu and cha) is powdered green tea. Matsu means powdering.

Mugicha is barley tea. Mugi is barley.

Sabō means a tearoom and sadō means the tea ceremony as I mentioned before.

Kobayashi Issa is a Japanese poet who is famous for his haiku. The last character of his name, sa, is today’s character.

1. Draw the dot top left.
2. Draw the horizontal line crossing the first dot.
3. Draw the sweeping dot top right.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke from below the center of the horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the other sweeping stroke from where you started the previous stroke. Spread the brush gradually.
6. Draw the shorter horizontal stroke.
7. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn.
8. Draw the sweeping dot in the lower left quadrant.
9. Draw the dot in the lower right quadrant.

Gold, Metal or Money

by Nao

kane, kana, kin, gon

Kane is money. It sounds blatant. Say okane to make it sound polite. O is a polite suffix. Kinsen is also money. Sen means money, too. Kingaku is a certain amount of money. Gaku means an amount. Kinko is a safety box. Ko is a box you store things.

Kin, kogane, and ōgon are gold. Pure gold is junkin. Jun means pure. Platinum is hakkin. Alchemy is renkinjutsu. Ren means to forge. Jutsu means technique.

Kinzoku is metal. Zoku means generic. Metal utensils are kanamono.

Kinsei is Venus.

One of the most popular sightseeing spots is Kinkakuji in Kyoto. It is a gold temple.

The drawing order of kanji generally goes from the top to the bottom.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left. Make it narrower gradually.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower right. Make it broader in the end.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke close to the previous strokes.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke below the previous stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke.
6. Draw the left dot.
7. Draw the right sweeping dot.
8. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom.

Yellow

by Nao

ki, ō, kō

The color yellow is kiiro or kiiroi.

Kōsa is yellow sand. Sa means sand. Wind-blown yellow sand from China sometimes reaches Japan.

I have mentioned that fine silk fabrics from Hachijōjima are called hachijō. Kihachijō is a yellow hachi jō. Thanks to Adeyto, we can see how it is dyed and woven at YouTube.

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Here is the drawing order of strokes.

1. Draw the horizontal stroke on the top from the left to the right.
2. Draw the left vertical stroke crossing the horizontal stroke.
3. Draw the right vertical stroke crossing the horizontal stroke.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke touching the end of the vertical strokes.
5. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
6. Start from where you start the previous stroke and draw the right-angled hook.
7. Draw the vertical stroke from the center of the forth stroke.
8. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
9. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
10. Draw the sweeping dot below the left side of the rectangle.
11. Draw the dot below the right side of the rectangle.