Japanese Vocabulary for Everyday Life: Essential Words and Phrases
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 Beauty of Brush Calligraphy: Techniques and Styles
| Character Illustration | four-character idiomatic compounds |
881 怪誕不経 882 海中撈月  883 喙長三尺  884 海底撈月  885 海底撈針  886 改轍易途  887 蓋天蓋地  888 誨盗誨淫  889 改頭換尾  890 剣樹地獄  891 剣樹刀山  892 懸鶉楽道  893 現状維持  894 玄裳縞衣  895 見性悟道  896 見性自覚  897 言笑自若  898 見性成仏  899 現象世界  900 形直影正  |
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901 兄弟鬩牆 902 敬天愛人  903 敬天愛民  904 経天緯地  905 桂殿蘭宮  906 軽薄短小  907 瓊葩綉葉  908 啓発激励  909 繋風捕影  910 係風捕景  911 狗吠緇衣  912 狗馬之心  913 苦髭楽爪  914 愚夫愚婦  915 九分九厘  916 求不得苦  917 区聞陬見  918 九品往生  919 九品浄土  920 九品之台  |
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| Character Illustration | four-character idiomatic compounds |
921 五穀豊穣 922 五穀豊登  923 個個別別  924 古今東西  925 古今独歩  926 古今無双  927 花言巧語  928 寡見少聞  929 嘉言善行  930 寡見鮮聞  931 寡言沈黙  932 仮公済私  933 夏侯拾芥  934 歌功頌徳  935 嫁狗随狗  936 花紅柳緑  937 過去七仏  938 画虎成狗  939 画虎不成  940 画虎類狗  |
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941 崋山帰馬 942 加持祈祷  943 寡二少双  944 和氏之璧  945 火樹銀花  946 嫁娶不同  947 火上澆油  948 家常茶飯  949 火上注油  950 過小評価  951 古今無比  952 古今無類  953 五山十刹  954 孤雌寡鶴  955 五色霜林  956 五色無主  957 孤死首丘  958 外寛内明  959 開巻劈頭  960 開巻有益  |
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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.