Smile 笑顔
egao2 characters28 strokes
笑顔 (egao) means a smiling face: the happy, cheerful look of someone smiling, which can brighten everyone around them.
Free practice sheet
Print at 100%, actual size. Enter your email once and every free sheet downloads right away.
Meaning 意味
What 笑顔 means
The Japanese word for smile, written with 2 kanji and read egao.
笑顔 is a face lit up with a smile. It is a bright word that brings to mind how one smile can cheer up the people nearby.
When people write it in Japan. In Japan, 笑顔 is a popular word for kakizome, the first calligraphy of the New Year, and a common theme for calligraphy exhibitions.
Japanese children know every kanji here by 4th grade.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 笑顔
Three things to watch
- Write the bamboo radical on top of 笑 (takekanmuri) wide, with its left and right halves matching in shape.
- 顔 has 18 strokes. Keep the left part close to the head radical 頁 on the right (ōgai), so the character does not spread too wide.
- Make 頁 tall. Its final left sweep and dot give the character a steady base.
Stroke order
Follow the vermilion stroke, frame by frame.
Stroke order data: KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0.
How to practice 練習
Trace first, then copy
- PrintPrint both pages at actual size, on US Letter or A4. Page 1 is the model. Page 2 is the tracing sheet.
- TraceTrace the outlines with a brush pen. Or lay thin hanshi paper over the page and trace with brush and ink.
- 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.
More free sheets
Heart & character
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.