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さくら (Cherry Blossoms) in regular script (kaisho), Japanese calligraphy model sheet

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Cherry Blossoms

sakura3 characters6 strokes

さくら (sakura) means cherry blossoms: the pale pink and white flowers that bloom all at once in spring and stand for spring in Japan.

Free practice sheet

Regular script · PDF, 2 pages (model + tracing) · 133 KB

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Meaning

What means

The Japanese word for Cherry Blossoms, written in hiragana and read sakura.

Sakura is the cherry tree, which covers itself in pale pink and white blossoms all at once in spring. It is the flower that best represents spring in Japan, loved by everyone who goes to hanami, flower viewing.

Here the word is written in hiragana instead of the kanji 桜, which gives it a soft, gentle look.

When people write it in Japan. Sakura is a perfect word for pieces about the arrival of spring, new beginnings, or memories of hanami. In Japan the school year starts in April, when the cherry trees bloom.

Hiragana3 strokes
Hiragana1 stroke
Hiragana2 strokes

Written in kana, the Japanese syllables children learn first.

How to write it

Brush tips for

Three things to watch

  1. In さ, write the horizontal stroke long and rising to the right, and bring the slanted stroke down to the lower right from above it. Keep the bottom stroke separate.
  2. く is a single stroke that goes down to the left and turns back. Make the lower half a little longer than the upper half, and stop firmly at the lower right.
  3. In ら, make the dot at the top short. Bring the lower stroke down, swell it out widely to the right, then sweep down to the left.

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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