2023年12月11日（月）
有
訓：あ.る
音：ゆう、う
英：possess, have, exist, happen, occur, approx
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
Pay close attention to the stroke order on this one. When ナ is above, the stroke order is decided by what is underneath it. The first stroke of 月 is vertical, so the first stroke of ナ goes from top to bottom. If it were different, for example 工 in 左, the horizontal stroke of ナ would be first.
Useful information! I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that pattern before. Maybe as I continue my own Kanji writing journey, it’ll become more clear to me.
今日もお疲れ様でした！
2023年12月12日（火）
又
訓：また、また-、また.の
音：ゆう
英：or again, furthermore, on the other hand
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
A nice simple one for you today - I really like the 草書 version of this one.
Hi all,
I’m really glad that there are some of you who are appreciating this thread and joining in. I didn’t think it would last, but it’s still getting a nice number of replies, so thank you very much.
I’m going to the UK on Saturday, so I won’t be posting between Sunday and early January. If anyone has any ideas on what might be appropriate characters for the end of the year, please let me know!
2023年12月13日（水）
宿
訓：やど、やど.る、やど.す
音：しゅく
英：inn, lodging, relay station, dwell, lodge, be pregnant, home, dwelling
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
I enjoy writing ウ冠 for some reason.
ANNOUNCEMENT: KANJI OF THE YEAR
税
音：ぜい
英：tax, duty
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
The kanji of the year has been officially announced in Kyoto. I was very surprised at this year’s selection, firstly because I assumed it would be something generally positive, but also because it’s the second time this kanji has been selected in the past decade - the last time being in 2014. The kanji came in as a clear winner with 5,976 votes out of 147,878. The second place was 暑, because we had a particularly hot summer this year. The chief monk of Kiyomizu Temple made the announcement by writing the character with a large brush on Tuesday just after 2pm. Last year’s selection was 戦.
2023年12月15日（金）
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
After yesterday’s character, I thought I would reference the place where it was announced.
2023年12月16日（土）
年
訓：とし
音：ねん
英：year, counter for years
書き順
楷書
行書
草書
メモ
Well this is my last one of 2023, so it makes a lot of sense that I do this one.
OK so that’s me done for this year. I’ll be back early January. I’m really surprised that I’m still doing this as I didn’t think there would be a great amount of interest, but there really has been, so thank you to everyone who has contributed, commented or even just appreciated without saying anything.
If anyone wants to carry on while I’m away, please do! Remember, this was never intended to be a thread about me, so please feel free to jump in.
I have a bloody long flight tonight - I’m actually going via Abu Dhabi, which means my journey is in a giant V-shape. It’ll take me about a day to get back to the UK. 
I’ll obviously be popping into the forum while I’m away, but not posting as much, so for now, よいお年をお迎えください。！
I just want to say that I’ve enjoyed reading your entries over these past few months and thank you for making such an interesting thread! I’m afraid that I don’t have anything to contribute, but maybe some other kanji writing fan might?
I hope you have a happy New Year!
お疲れ様です！
Thank you for all your hard work throughout the year. It was nice to join in towards the end of the year and watch this thread march forward through the months. Thank you for inspiring me to focus more on my own learning journey, especially in regards to being able to write Kanji. Enjoy the rest of your year, and I hope to see your return in the coming year!
Who wants to help out for the rest of the year? We can alternate putting out new (or our own writings of old) kanji every day to keep this thread busy while @matt_in_mito is off, anyone up for the challenge?
2023年12月17日「日」
In the spirit of this thread, I picked up a calligraphy brush pen for the first time in my life and tried my hand at the 行書 (semi-cursive) form of the Kanji 美.
This is my result after around 20 minutes of practice with various writing utensils, starting with a pen and ending finally with a calligraphy brush pen. Going from 9 strokes to a mere 3, the semi-cursive style is a lot harder to balance in a way that looks nice, at least for my untrained hand. I used this video as my reference, for anyone who wants to try it themselves.
This simple exercise has given me a lot of respect for calligraphy artists.
2023年12月18日「月」
Well, this and @TehFlashBang’s threads inspired me to pick up the pen and get back to doing some writing practice, which is something I’ve been neglecting for way too long now 
. I finally graduated from university two days ago, so my pick is the character 卒.
Please mind that my calligraphy is terrible 
.
I also made a poor attempt at a 行書 version. After a lot of tries this was the best I could achieve with my lack of training:
It was my first experience trying to write anything in a semi-cursive style. The lesson learned is that it is, of course, way harder than it first seems… Just as @TehFlashBang pointed out, this exercise has also given me a lot of respect for calligraphy artists, and it also motivated me to keep practicing my handwriting!
Today I discovered the kyuujitai version of 亀: 龜. That’s quite something:
I find it interesting because it really resembles one of these old Chinese characters that are truly pictographic, you can see the legs, tail and head and the cross marking the carapace:
2023年12月22日「金」
Today I pick up my brush pen once more to bring you my second attempt at calligraphy.
Sticking with very fluffy, feel-good meanings of kanji for now, I can’t help seeing a funny face in this one. Maybe it’s just the way I drew it, but even in the video reference I used, it looks kinda face-y. I feel like I’m starting to get a hang of the strokes a bit better, this took me a lot less time than my attempt of 美 in a semi-cursive style.
Nicely done!
Indeed there is a facey feel to it. The one on the left keeps reminding me of Mrs. Puff. Or an old French lady with the beret and a tad too much lipstick.
2023年12月23日「土」
I really have to thank the YouTube Channel Kaei Calligraphy for all the reference videos for these posts
Drew this out using this video as reference in-between turns of my buddy’s birthday D&D game. I should really look into actual calligraphy classes in the future, I feel like I would really enjoy the guidance of a proper teacher instead of just a YouTube short.
