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.
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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.
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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。！
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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!
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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!
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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?
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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.
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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!
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I like it a lot, what do you use to draw?
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2023年12月24日「日」
Today’s was a bit of a rush-job, but I’m still happy with how it turned out.
I really need to fix my schedule of posting things right before midnight (EST), but I’ve just been so busy. Today’s reference was This Video. I really want to keep this thread alive until mattさん gets back so if anyone else feels inspired to pick up a brush, pencil, or pen, I’d love to see more attempts at Calligraphy. My above post has a link to the channel I use incase anyone wants to look at the shorts that inspired me to start trying myself.
Answer
Thank you! I’m a beginner so it still takes me a while before I get something I’m happy with posting, but I use a “Stampin’ Write™️” Brush Pen that I stole from my mother a while back (see below image).
I took a liking to calligraphy, however, and am purchasing a set of Brush Pens by the company Kuretake for my own personal use moving forward.
Hope this helps!
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Today I discovered 略字(りゃくじ), informal abbreviated characters:
Some of those are very straightforward, others a lot less so. I quite like those who just jam a hiragana in there as some sort of phonetic component, dakuten and all:
It’s a bit cursed but pretty fun. I certainly can’t blame the Japanese for taking shortcuts while writing 機… Here’s an example of that form in the wild:
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2023年12月29日「金」
Truth be told, I finished up this character yesterday, but only found time to post it today.
My fourth attempt at the semi-cursive 「行書」form of the character 「家」、meaning “Home” or “Family”. The 楷書 form looks a bit sloppy at the bottom, for some reason when I use a brush pen, writing characters normally never really look quite right. I’m still very happy with the 行書 form though!
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2023年12月31日「日」
Happy New-Year’s Eve, BunPro Community! With one more day until the turning of the new year, I bring you my final attempt at calligraphy, at least in 2023.
If you plan on drinking お酒 this New-Years, please imbibe responsibly. This character probably was my toughest challenge yet, and I’m still not sure if I’m happy with the result.
As an added bonus, my additional attempts will be posted in the dropdown below.
Failed Attempts
With 4 pages of practice and failed attempts, I worked on this character even longer than the 行書 form of the Kanji 美、resulting in the most effort I’ve put into drawing a single character.
This just goes to show how much practice actual calligraphers put in to be able to write as beautifully as they do!
Thank you all for the support, and let’s get ready to welcome back @matt_in_mito さん with the coming of the New Year!
少し早いけど、あけましておめでとう！
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Happy new year everyone. I hope you all had a good time and made great memories.
I’ve been back in Japan for a few days but I’ve held off posting while the jet lag levels itself out - but I’m back on here today.
Thanks to everyone who has been contributing while I’ve been away. Please continue contributing, and please continue to do so. I’ve said it before, but this isn’t my thread - it’s just a thread that I happen to have started. Let’s share our love of Japanese characters as much as we can!
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