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Technique for Writing Kanji


     Because some Kanji are made up of many different radicals, writing them correctly can become a problem. To solve this problem, there are set rules for the stroke order for each radical/Kanji. Correctly following the stroke order will help to make your Kanji look correct.

     Listed here are 13 basic rules to follow when writing Kanji. Listed in order of importance.


Top to Bottom

 Ni or two, being written top to bottom.

Left to Right

 Jin, or person, being written left to right.

Horizontal strokes are written before vertical ones when crossing

 Juu, or ten, having the horizontal line being written before the vertical one.

But the above is not always true

 O-Sama, or King, having the center vertical line written first, and the three horizontal ones being written.

Center parts before left and right

 Mizu, or water, having the middle radical being written before the flanking lines.

Outer frame first, bottom line last

 Kuchi, or mouth, having the outer lines first with the bottom line closing it off last.

Right to left diagonal before left to right diagonal

(See "Left to Right" example)

Center vertical line last

 Naka, or middle, written by writing a standard square and then with the vertical line last.

Strokes that cut through come last

 Onna, or woman, having the last two strokes cutting through the first radical.

Squares are written with three strokes and not four

(See the "Outer Frame first, bottom line last" example.)

Vertical Lines shouldn't slope

 Naka, or middle, having the center vertical line being written incorrectly with a slant.

Horizontal lines can slope, but must be parrallel

 O-Sama, or king, having the horizontal lines parrallel to each other. Although this form is correct, it is far less common.
  • Characters should be the same size

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