Cherry

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

Pine

by Nao

matsu, shō

Matsu is pine. It is an evergreen tree.

Pine, bamboo, and Japanese apricot can withstand harsh coldness. Because of their strength, they are regarded as good luck trees, the so-called “shō chiku bai.” Japanese families display them on happy occasions such as New Year’s Day.

Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka are major league baseball players. Their last names begin with today’s character.

The founder of Panasonic is Kōnosuke Matsushita. His family name also begins with today’s character.

Some names of cities have this character. Matsumoto city is the capital of Nagano. Matsuyama city is the capital of Ehime.

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 small dot like a hanging brunch of the vertical stroke.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the center.
6. Draw the dot from the top to the lower right.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke below the fifth stroke.
8. Draw the semi-horizontal stroke from where you finish the last stroke to the right.
9. Draw the dot, which hides the end of the previous stroke.

When you draw this character with a pen, the seventh and eighth strokes are supposed to be one stroke.

Willow

by Nao

yanagi, ryū

A tree called yanagi is a willow. A pussy willow is nekoyanagi. Neko means a cat. The buds of nekoyanagi are furry like a cat.

Some names include this character. Yanagase in Gifu and Yanagawa in Fukuoka are examples. The former is a shopping district; the latter is famous for a boating trip down the river. This character is used for surnames, too.

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. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
6. From where you end the previous stroke, draw the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the stroke sweeping up.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke from below the fifth stroke.
9. Draw the hook on the right. Don’t forget the upward turn.
10. Draw the vertical line.

The sixth and the seventh strokes are supposed to joint together when you draw it with a pen.

Japanese Apricot or Plum called Ume

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

Tree

by Nao

ki, moku, boku

A tree is ki. Trees are kigi. When you write kigi, you can either write this character twice or change the second character, gi, into another that means ditto.

Thursday is mokuyōbi. Mokusei is Jupiter. Mokusei whose sei is another character means something made of wood. Mokkin is xylophone.

A big tree is taiboku.

1. Draw the horizontal line from the left to the right. The tip of the brush moves along the upper side of the line.
2. Draw the vertical line from the top to the bottom. The tip of the brush moves along the left side of the line.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from the previous strokes intersect. Let it sweep toward the lower left and make it thinner gradually.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke heading toward the other corner. Make it broader at the end.