Friends 友達
tomodachi2 characters16 strokes
友達 (tomodachi) means friends: the people you get along well with and enjoy playing, learning and spending time with.
Free practice sheet
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Meaning 意味
What 友達 means
The Japanese word for friends, written with 2 kanji and read tomodachi.
Tomodachi is the everyday Japanese word for a friend, someone you play with, learn with and feel close to. The second character, 達, is also used to make plurals, yet tomodachi can mean one friend or many.
When people write it in Japan. In Japan, tomodachi is a common theme at the start of a new school year and in pieces about school life. It is a simple, warm word to practice at any age.
Japanese children know every kanji here by 4th grade.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 友達
Three things to watch
- Begin 友 with the horizontal stroke. The 1st stroke is the horizontal, and the 2nd stroke is the sweep down to the left.
- In 友, make the sweep down to the left long. Let the last sweep down to the right stretch out freely and lift off.
- In 達, write the walking radical (shinnyō), the curving base on the left and bottom, at the very end. Stretch it out slowly to the right so the top part sits on it.
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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