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成長 (Growth) in regular script (kaisho), Japanese calligraphy model sheet

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Growth

seichō2 characters14 strokes

成長 (seichō) means growth: a person or living thing growing up, and also the way our abilities grow as we learn.

Free practice sheet

Regular script · PDF, 2 pages (model + tracing) · 250 KB

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Meaning

What means

The Japanese word for growth, written with 2 kanji and read seichō.

成長 means growing up and getting bigger, for people, animals and plants alike. It also describes growing as a person, as you become able to do more than before.

When people write it in Japan. People in Japan write 成長 for kakizome, the first calligraphy of the New Year, or for a piece that looks back on the year.

become; grow; achieve6 strokes · Taught in 4th grade in Japan
long; grow; leader8 strokes · Taught in 2nd grade in Japan

Japanese children know every kanji here by 4th grade.

How to write it

Brush tips for

Three things to watch

  1. In 成, stretch the 4th stroke, the slanting curved stroke, long to the lower right and flick up at the end.
  2. Do not forget the final dot of 成.
  3. 長 has 4 horizontal lines. Space them evenly, and make the 5th stroke, a horizontal line, the longest.

Stroke order

Follow the vermilion stroke, frame by frame.

Stroke order data: KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0.

How to practice

Trace first, then copy

  1. PrintPrint both pages at actual size, on US Letter or A4. Page 1 is the model. Page 2 is the tracing sheet.
  2. TraceTrace the outlines with a brush pen. Or lay thin hanshi paper over the page and trace with brush and ink.
  3. CopySet the model beside your paper and copy it stroke by stroke. Look at the model more than at your own paper.

Free for personal practice and classroom use. Please do not sell or re-post the files. Share a link to this page instead.

Ready to write ?Model + tracing sheet · US Letter or A4 · free
Cover of Japanese Calligraphy for Beginners by Sanayuki Morita

While the sets are on their way

The book is out now.

Japanese Calligraphy for Beginners takes you from holding the brush to writing whole words, step by step, in English. Every model inside was brushed by our teachers.

Starter Set, $72.99 with the book, brush, ink and paper: coming soon.

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