Ideal 理想
risō2 characters24 strokes
理想 (risō) means ideal: the best possible picture of how things could be, a goal you hope to reach someday.
Free practice sheet
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Meaning 意味
What 理想 means
The Japanese word for ideal, written with 2 kanji and read risō.
理想 is the picture of what would be best, the state you would most like to reach. People often use it about themselves, as in 理想の自分, "the person I want to be."
When people write it in Japan. People in Japan write 理想 for their goals for the new year, or for pieces about their dreams and the person they hope to become.
Japanese children know every kanji here by 3rd grade.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 理想
Three things to watch
- Keep the jewel radical on the left of 理 (ōhen) narrow, and write its bottom stroke rising toward the upper right.
- In 里 on the right of 理, make the 11th stroke, a horizontal line, the longest, so the bottom of the character feels solid.
- In 想, set 木 and 目 side by side on top. Write 心 (heart) at the bottom wide to support the whole character.
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.
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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.
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