How to write kanji Aka (赤)

※漢字のYouTube動画を昔作ってました(動画は削除済)。その時のスクリプトです。英語でスクリプト書いてます。英語は、ネイティブの添削済。

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Today's kanji is Aka(赤). So, let's start by explaining a little more about the word.

Aka(赤) includes a basic kanji called 土(tsuchi). Tsuchi(土) means earth, ground, dirt and so on. Tsuchi(土) also means Saturday, but we won’t focus on that today.

If you can write "tsuchi（土)", it will help to write other kanji such as ”tera(寺)”,”toki(時)",”shiro(城)”,”sou(走)”, "sumi(墨)", and so on.

But today, let’s only explain 2 kanji “tsuchi(土)” and “aka(赤)”. Aka ("赤") means red.

Before I draw these kanji, I will first prepare two kanji boxes. These boxes are guides for how long and wide. Imagine that your kanji are inside an invisible square box. This box will stop you drawing your kanji too big or too small.

First, let’s move on to writing the kanji for tsuchi(土). This kanji is drawn using 3 lines.

line 1 : We begin by drawing a horizontal line.
line 2 : Above line 1 we draw a vertical line that crosses the middle of line 1.
line 3 : Finally draw a horizontal line that touches the end of line 2. Draw this line slightly longer than line 1.

Tsuchi(土) is complete!!

Second, let’s move on to writing the kanji for aka(赤). This kanji is drawn using 7 lines.

line 1 : We begin by drawing a squashed tsuchi first. It will be at the top of the ‘box’. So start by drawing a horizontal line.
line 2 : Above line 1 we draw a vertical line that crosses the middle of line 1.
line 3 : Draw a horizontal line that touches the end of line 2. Draw this line slightly longer than line 1.
lines 4 and 5 : Draw two curving vertical lines from around the middle of line 3 to the bottom of the kanji box. But many Japanese people draw these lines completely straight.
line 6 : Draw a short diagonal line on the left side of line 4. You should draw this line by starting at the top and drawing down.
line 7 : Finally, draw a short diagonal line on the right side of line 5. Again start your line from the top and draw down.

Aka(赤) is complete!!

To tell the truth, kanji has a lot of important writing rules. Japanese people are taught it at school when they are children. But, most Japanese people forget these rules when they grow up. For example, when we draw neatly, we need to use Tome and Hane. But Japanese people don’t use Tome and Hane very much in their daily lives. So, it's okay if you don’t use Tome and Hane. When you become more comfortable writing kanji, you should start following kanji rule.

Additionally, If you practice writing kanji without a kanji box, I recommend using squared paper. Like this!!

A lot of Japanese people aren't good at write beautifully kanji, so don’t worry if your handwriting is messy.

Thank you for reading my article!