How to write Japanese alphabets?

Japanese characters are unique. There are several rules that are not found in other languages, such as curves, harai, and tome. In particular, Japanese characters are considered to be beautifully written, and for this reason, one must know how to write them.

If you can write beautiful characters, you will make a good impression on others. On the other hand, if the characters are not well written, they may not be readable. Here we introduce how to write Japanese characters.

The rule of writing Japanese

We introduce two main rules to write Japanese language.

• Rule number 1: Japanese characters are basically written from left to right, top to bottom.

• Rule number 2: Paper back book such as Japanese novels are written from top to bottom, right to left. But Japanese textbooks are written from left to right, top to bottom as English one.

And there are more rules depending on Japanese three characters. We will introduce them separately.

Hiragana

Hiragana has many curves. In addition, there are three important ways to write hiragana: "tome," which stops at the end of a line, and "harai," which sweeps at the end of the line, and "hane" which goes upward brushstroke.

The space within a character is also important. For example, the letter "あ": A has three spaces like this. Without these spaces, the letter is not beautiful and difficult to read. Please focus on the balance of the characters in Hiragana for writing.

Katakana

Katakana also has "tome", "harai" and "hane" as Hiragana. And the balance is also important. If space is not reserved, the characters may not be distinguishable. For example, "ク": KU and "ワ": WA, these are very similar, but if you are not careful about line length and space, they can be read incorrectly.　

Kanji

Of the three Japanese characters, the balance of kanji is the most difficult. Like hiragana and katakana, there are many kanji that are difficult to balance, such as tome, harai, hane plus squares and curves.　

Fonts make more complicated

And even more difficult are Japanese fonts: let's look at three typical fonts.　

Each one is very commonly used. They look completely different depending on the shape, but they are the same character. The differences between these fonts are something you will get used to as you learn Japanese.

Some alphabets are different depending on fonts

This is often asked by learners. Different fonts have different characters. Looking at hiragana and katakana, "き," "さ," "ふ," and "り are different in that some of these are connected and some are separated.

Kanji characters also look different, such as "sanzui" and "shin nyou".

The image above shows how Japanese people write them. Please refer to it.

Which font should I use for writing?

It is not a given which of these fonts you should write. textbook fonts look beautiful, simple and easy to write. Mincho font is angular and a bit difficult to write. I teach how to write Kanji characters in Japanese calligraphy on SNS. Please check it out as well.

How should I learn Japanese alphabets?

Please study from 46 hiragana characters, then 46 katakana characters. Then Kanji little by little. There are many kanji, but you don't have to study them all at once.

The easiest way to learn the characters is to write them on paper. Using a tablet pen is also good. I think it is difficult to learn by just looking at them, so learn by writing them.

In my ebook, there is also a practice book on how to write hiragana & katakana. It includes the stroke order, so you can learn how to write them beautifully. There is a kanji lesson too. Please consider purchasing it.

How Japanese people learn alphabets

Japanese people learn how to write when they enter elementary school. First, they study hiragana and katakana.

At the same time, they gradually learn Kanji characters. In the first grade of elementary school, students learn 80 kanji, which is the same number as the N5 level of the JLPT exam (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) .

Japanese people basically "learn by writing" at school. To write beautifully, the best practice is to write with pencils on paper. From elementary school to high school, students study Kanji characters, and there are tests like every day. That is how they remember kanji for a long period.

From elementary school through high school, students study all 2,136 characters of the common used Kanji.

I believe that many foreign learners of Japanese learn Japanese for work or study abroad. And many of them have limited time and cannot spend as much time as Japanese students, but the best way to learn the alphabets is to write and memorize.

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