Gate

by Nao

mon, kado

This character depicts a gate with two door flaps. A gate is mon.

One of the Japanese historical gates is Suzakumon, which is part of a UNESCO world cultural heritage site. The su of Suzakumon means vermilion; zaku, a sparrow; and mon, a gate.

You can retrieve an English brochure on Suzakumon -> here.

Wikipedia also provides some information about the gate ->  here.

Suzakumon was reconstructed in Nara city. Nara city is now celebrating the 1300^th anniversary of the relocation of the capital. Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784.

A gate is one of the places you go through when you enter into somewhere. The word nyūmon is used for the commencement of learning. The verb nyūmonsuru means to become somebody’s disciple.

Another meaning of nyūmon is a beginner’s guide. If it comes in books, we call it nyūmonsho.

1. Draw the vertical stroke to the left.
2. Draw the hook touching the first stroke.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke below the hook.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke below the previous stroke.
5. Begin to draw the right door flap. Draw the short vertical stroke from the top.
6. Draw the hook, which is composed of a short horizontal stroke and the long vertical stroke with an upward turn.
7. Draw the short horizontal stroke between the vertical strokes.
8. Draw the short horizontal stroke below the previous stroke.

Holy

by Nao

kiyo-i, hijiri, sei, shō

Shōtokutaishi (Prince Shōtoku) and Shōmutennō (Emperor Shōmu) are historical figures whose names begin with today’s character. Both lived in Nara. Shōtokutaishi was a politician. Shōmutennō issued an edict that the huge statue of the Great Buddha be built.

In those days, Shō did not mean Holy in a sense of Christianity. Japan had just encountered Buddhism.

These days this character is mainly used for Christian words.

A saint is seijin. Francisco Xavier, a Roman Catholic missionary, brought Christianity to Japan. He is a saint and called sei furancisco zabieru.  .

This character is equivalent to St. or saint if it is used as a prefix and read “sei.” St. Mary is Seimaria. Some Catholic and Anglican churches and cathedrals named after saints begin with this character. St. Mary’s Cathedral, for example, is “Seimaria daiseidō” A cathedral is called daiseidō. Dō means a tall building.

1. Draw the horizontal stroke from left to center top.
2. Draw the vertical stroke on the left.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke under the first stroke.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
5. Draw the horizontal line. This is longer than the previous strokes. Make it thinner gradually.
6. Draw the vertical line touching above strokes drawn previously.
7. Begin to draw the rectangle. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
9. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
10. Begin to draw the lower part. Draw the horizontal line in the middle.
11. Draw the vertical line
12. Draw the horizontal line below the horizontal line.
13. Draw the horizontal line at the bottom.

Mountain

by Nao

yama, san

Yama is a mountain. Most Japanese mountains have the suffix -san, such as Fujisan (Mt. Fuji) between Shizuoka and Yamanashi, Asosan (Mt. Aso) in Kumamoto, Zaōsan (Mt. Zaō) in Tōhoku, Rokkōsan (Mt. Rokkō) in Kōbe to name a few. The suffix –yama is similarly used for some mountains. Some examples are Kurohimeyama (Mt. Kurohime) in Nagano and Wakakusayama (Mt. Wakakusa) in Nara.

Yama also means a peak. The climax, the most important stage, or the critical juncture is called yamaba. Ba is a field.

Your speculation or guess is yama. If your speculation has succeeded, you can say yama ga atatta. Atatta is the past tense of the verb, ataru, or to hit. Failed speculation is described as yama ga hazureta. Hazureta is the past tense of the verb, hazureru, or to miss.

Start from the vertical line in the middle. The vertical strokes on both sides are about the same length.

1. Draw the vertical line from the top center.
2. Draw the L-shaped stroke from the left.
3. Draw the short vertical stroke on the right.

Clothes

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

Correct

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