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白雲 (White Clouds) in regular script (kaisho), Japanese calligraphy model sheet

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White Clouds

hakuun2 characters17 strokes

白雲 (hakuun) means white clouds, the kind that float in a blue sky and call to mind a calm, unhurried view.

Free practice sheet

Regular script · PDF, 2 pages (model + tracing) · 254 KB

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Meaning

What means

The Japanese word for White Clouds, written with 2 kanji and read hakuun.

Hakuun means white clouds. The word brings to mind clouds drifting across a blue sky on a slow, peaceful day.

When people write it in Japan. Hakuun is a common word for summer pieces and for seasonal practice.

white5 strokes · Taught in 1st grade in Japan
cloud12 strokes · Taught in 2nd grade in Japan

Japanese children know every kanji here by 2nd grade.

How to write it

Brush tips for

Three things to watch

  1. In 白, keep the 1st stroke short. 白 has few strokes, so take care not to write it too small.
  2. In 雲, write the rain radical at the top (amekanmuri) wide and flat. Keep the four dots inside it small and even.
  3. 雲 has 12 strokes and tends to grow tall. Balance its height with 白.

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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