Kanji stroke order rules, with examples

Kanji stroke order is the standard order for writing the strokes of a kanji, called 筆順 (hitsujun) or 書き順 (kakijun) in Japanese. You don’t have to learn it kanji by kanji: a handful of rules explain the order of most of them. Write from top to bottom and from left to right, horizontal strokes before the vertical strokes that cross them, the middle before the sides, and the outside of a box before what goes inside. A few more rules and a short list of exceptions cover the rest.

The rules

These are the rules set out in a guide that Japan’s Ministry of Education published in 1958, which Japanese school textbooks still follow. In each diagram, the numbers sit where the strokes begin.

1. Top to bottom

Write the higher strokes first. The three lines of 三 (san), three, go from top to bottom. In 言, the kanji in 言う (iu), to say, the dot comes first and the box at the bottom comes last.

2. Left to right

Write the left side first. The three strokes of 川 (kawa), river, go from left to right, and in 林 (hayashi), a grove, the whole left tree comes before the right one. Notice that the left tree’s last stroke shrinks to a short one, to make room.

3. Horizontal before vertical

Where a horizontal stroke crosses a vertical one, the horizontal usually goes first: 十 (juu), ten, and 土 (tsuchi), earth.

Two families do it the other way round. In 田 (ta), a rice field, and kanji built like it, the inner vertical comes before the inner horizontal. In 王 (ou), king, the vertical comes straight after the top line, before the two lines below it.

4. The middle before the sides

When a kanji has a middle part with one or two strokes on each side, the middle goes first, as in 小, the kanji in 小さい (chiisai), small, and 水 (mizu), water. The exceptions are 火 (hi), fire, and the heart radical 忄: in both, the sides come first.

5. Outside before inside

A frame comes before what goes inside it, and a box that closes at the bottom gets its bottom line last. In 日 (hi), sun, and 国 (kuni), country, you write the left side, then the top and right side in one stroke, then the inside, and the bottom line closes the box. A box open on the right works differently: in 区 (ku), a ward, the top line comes first, then the inside, and the corner last.

6. Left-falling before right-falling

When a stroke sweeping down to the left meets or crosses one sweeping down to the right, the left one goes first: 人 (hito), person, 文 (bun), sentence, and 父 (chichi), father.

7. A vertical through the middle goes last

A vertical stroke that runs right through a kanji is written last: 中 (naka), the middle, and 車 (kuruma), a car. In 書, the kanji in 書く (kaku), to write, the vertical runs through the top part only, so it comes last in that part, before the box underneath.

8. A horizontal through the middle goes last

A horizontal stroke that runs right across a kanji is written last too: 女 (onna), woman, 子 (ko), child, and 母 (haha), mother. The one exception is 世 (yo), the world, which starts with its long horizontal.

9. Wrap-around parts: some last, some first

The walking radical 辶 is written last, after the part it carries: 近 (chikai), near, and 道 (michi), road. So is 廴, in 建 (tateru), to build. Other wrap-around parts go first: in 起 (okiru), to get up, you write 走 before 己.

10. 右 and 左: the shorter stroke goes first

右 (migi), right, and 左 (hidari), left, share a top but start differently. In 右, the sweep is short and the horizontal long, so the sweep goes first. In 左, the horizontal is short and the sweep long, so the horizontal goes first. 有 (aru), to have, starts like 右, and 友 (tomo), a friend, starts like 左. The lesson on telling left from right has more on this pair.

Where the rules come from

The rules above are set out in 筆順指導の手びき (hitsujun shidou no tebiki), a guide to teaching stroke order that the Ministry of Education published in 1958. It covered the 881 kanji then taught in schools, and its aim was to keep teaching consistent. Today’s school textbooks still base their stroke orders on it. The guide also says plainly that orders it doesn’t show aren’t wrong.

Some kanji have two widely used orders. The guide itself names examples such as 上, 必 and 馬, and the diagrams on this page show one order for each kanji.

How strokes end: tome, hane and harai

Each stroke also has an ending, and Japanese has a word for each kind:

• とめ (tome), a stop: the pen stops firmly, like the end of the long vertical in 木 (ki), tree.
• はね (hane), a flick: the stroke kicks up as it ends, like the hook at the bottom of 小.
• はらい (harai), a sweep: the stroke thins out as the pen lifts, like both strokes of 人.

Textbooks teach one ending for each stroke, but handwriting has some freedom. Guidelines from Japan’s Council for Cultural Affairs, published in 2016, say a handwritten kanji shouldn’t be marked wrong for small differences, such as a vertical that ends in a flick instead of a stop, as long as the kanji’s basic framework is clear.

Why stroke order matters

You could draw a kanji in any order and end up with the same shape. The usual order still helps:

• Quick, neat writing. It keeps your hand’s movements short, from the end of one stroke to the start of the next, which helps you write quickly and legibly.
• Joined-up handwriting. In fast handwriting, strokes run into each other, and they join in the order you write them.
• Counting strokes. Dictionaries sort kanji by their number of strokes, and learning the order teaches you where each stroke starts and stops. The top and right side of 口 (kuchi), mouth, are one stroke, so 口 has three strokes, not four.
• Drawing kanji to look them up. Phones and electronic dictionaries can find a kanji you draw with your finger. Some are built to cope with any order, but the usual order and stroke count are the safe choice.

How to write kanji neatly

• Find the parts first. 林 is two trees, so once you can write 木, you’re halfway there. The guide to kanji radicals explains how kanji are put together.
• Go slowly, in order, counting the strokes as you write.
• Write it big, in a square, and give each part its share of the space.
• Watch the endings: stop, flick or sweep.

Chirami shows animated stroke order for every kanji, which is handy for checking a new one before you write it.

Common questions

Does stroke order really matter?

For reading, no: you’ll recognise a kanji however it was written. For writing, yes: the usual order makes kanji quicker and neater, and it’s what Japanese schools teach. If you’re preparing for the JLPT, it’s a multiple-choice test, so you won’t write kanji by hand there.

Are there exceptions to the stroke order rules?

Yes, a few. The main ones are above: 田 and 王, 火 and 忄, 世, 起, and 右 against 左. Some kanji, such as 必, also have more than one widely used order, and neither is wrong.

Is Chinese stroke order the same as Japanese?

Mostly, since the basic rules are shared, but not always. Japan starts 右 with its sweep, while mainland China and Taiwan start it with the horizontal, just like 左. Japan also starts 有 with the sweep, where mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong start with the horizontal. If you study both languages, learn each one’s own order.

How do I find the stroke order of a new kanji?

Check it once when you first meet the kanji: most kanji dictionaries show the order, and most kanji follow the rules above. After a while you’ll be able to work out the order yourself and only need to check the exceptions.

The kanji in this guide

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Sources

• Nihon Bunkyo Shuppan: stroke-order guide based on the 1958 筆順指導の手びき (Japanese)
• Wikipedia (Japanese): 筆順
• Weblio: 筆順, the principles and their examples (Japanese)
• Wikipedia: Stroke order
• Agency for Cultural Affairs: the 2016 guidelines on kanji shapes (Japanese)
• All About: tome, hane and harai under the 2016 guidelines (Japanese)
• Jisho (JMdict): 止め
• Jisho (JMdict): 跳ね, 撥ね
• Jisho (JMdict): 払い
• Jisho (JMdict): 筆順
• JLPT: frequently asked questions
• IEICE Transactions: stroke-number and stroke-order free on-line kanji recognition (1996)

Written by the Chirami team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict, KANJIDIC2 and the sources above. How we write. Spotted a mistake? Email support@brightsmilesolutions.org.