Exploring Japanese Shūji: The Art of Beautiful Writing
Multiple examples of four-character compounds and four-letter words are presented on one page with examples of four-character compounds displayed by various designs focusing on four-character compounds and four-letter words.
We express four-character idioms in various designs, such as Mincho, Gyosho, Gothic, and Sosho styles. These can serve as general examples for lettering in Japanese, posters (handmade signs), and calligraphy assignments like the New Year's calligraphy tradition.
 Comparison Samples of Four-Character Idiom Designs. |
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 Mincho Font |
Textbook Font |
Gyousho Font |
Gothic |
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| Maru Gothic |
Anxiety |
Brush Pen |
Sosho Font |
We have put together a one-page sample of such a design for one four-character phrase.
Kanji characters may be missing if they are old or special characters (Unicode).
The Aesthetics of Kanji: Beauty in Japanese Characters
| Character Illustration | four-character idiomatic compounds |
 81 有卦七年 82 烏合烏散 83 隠晦曲折 84 飲灰洗胃 85 因果応報 86 淫楽慝礼 87 因果覿面 88 飲河之願 89 因果報応 90 飲河満腹 91 因果歴然 92 殷鑑不遠 93 一望無垠 94 一木一草 95 一木難支 96 一枚看板 97 一味合体 98 一味同心 99 一味徒党 100 一味郎党 |
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 101 一面之詞 102 一面之辞 103 一網打尽 104 一毛不抜 105 一網無遺 106 一目十行 107 一目即了 108 一目瞭然 109 一問一答 110 一門数竈 111 一文半銭 112 一文不知 113 一文不通 114 一夜十起 115 一遊一予 116 意中之人 117 因機説法 118 韻鏡十年 119 隠居放言 120 慇懃無礼 |
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 121 引決自裁 122 隠公左伝 123 咽喉之地 124 飲至策勲 125 淫祠邪教 126 飲至之礼 127 因循苟且 128 于公高門 129 禹行舜趨 130 烏合之衆 131 右顧左顧 132 右顧左眄 133 雨後春筍 134 有財餓鬼 135 牛之一毛 136 雨糸風片 137 烏集之衆 138 烏集之交 139 有情世間 140 有情非情 |
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 141 暗箭傷人 142 安然無事 143 安然無恙 144 暗送秋波 145 安宅正路 146 暗中飛躍 147 阿諛曲従 148 阿諛迎合 149 阿諛傾奪 150 阿諛苟合 151 阿諛取容 152 燕頷虎頭 153 燕雁代飛 154 燕頷投筆 155 怨気衝天 156 縁希望魚 157 怨気満腹 158 婉曲迂遠 159 延頚鶴望 160 一時之傑 |
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Significance of Font Design
They play an important role in the communication and visual presentation of information. First, fonts can greatly affect the impression of a message depending on the shape and style of the letters. For example, serif fonts give a traditional, formal impression, while sans-serif fonts create a modern, clean look.
They also contribute to readability and legibility and are designed to aid visual attraction and understanding, especially in advertising and publications. In addition, fonts can serve as part of a brand identity, a means of expressing the personality of a company or product.
About precautions How to write and read four-character phrases |
This homepage introduces how to write various four-character phrases.
Some kanji characters may be garbled because they are not supported in the font-based character design. We have also taken care to ensure that there are no mistakes in the kanji and reading notations, but there may be kanji mistakes or conversion errors.
The introduction of typefaces is only shown as an example as a sample of typeface design. Even similar fonts may differ in minor details. It is not intended to indicate superiority or inferiority of any typeface.
The font and cursive typefaces shown on this page are not necessarily correct, as they often reflect the individuality of the person actually writing them.
When accuracy is required for school assignments, exams, work, etc., please confirm the correctness of the kanji, readings, and meanings of 4-kanji compounds with a Japanese dictionary, idiomatic expression dictionary, or other reliable source. Text and images on this site may not be reproduced or redistributed.