Kanji for Everyday Use: Practical Applications in Daily Life
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).
Mastering Brush Strokes: Techniques for Beautiful Kanji
| Character Illustration | four-character idiomatic compounds |
241 窮猿奔林 242 古言古義  243 五言絶句  244 胡言乱語  245 孤行一意  246 五劫思惟  247 感奮激厲  248 感奮興起  249 韓文之疵  250 玩兵黷武  251 緩兵之計  252 完璧帰趙  253 含哺鼓腹  254 頑迷固陋  255 干名采誉  256 頑冥不霊  257 簡明扼要  258 慣用手段  259 歓楽哀情  260 奇貨可居  |
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261 亀鶴之寿 262 帰家本能  263 禾黍油油  264 花嘴利舌  265 画脂鏤冰  266 花晨月夕  267 花唇巧舌  268 佳人才子  269 臥薪嘗胆  270 雅人深致  271 軻親断機  272 佳人薄命  273 禍心包蔵  274 嘉辰令月  275 河誓山盟  276 苛政猛虎  277 下井落石  278 禍棗災梨  279 雅俗混淆  280 雅俗折衷  |
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| Character Illustration | four-character idiomatic compounds |
281 家族団欒 282 過大評価  283 火宅之境  284 火宅之門  285 果断迅速  286 華冑家世  287 火中取栗  288 揮汗成雨  289 鬼瞰之禍  290 危機一髪  291 奇技淫巧  292 奇奇怪怪  293 騏驥過隙  294 枯槁憔悴  295 股肱之臣  296 股肱之力  297 股肱之良  298 虎口抜牙  299 巍然屹立  300 貴賎上下  |
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301 貴賎貧富 302 貴賎老若  303 奇想天外  304 帰巣本能  305 気息奄奄  306 規則縄墨  307 機知機略  308 機知縦横  309 吉祥懺悔  310 飢腸轆轆  311 吉凶禍福  312 佶屈晦渋  313 虎口余生  314 股掌之臣  315 虎嘯風生  316 後生菩提  317 孤城落月  318 孤城落日  319 五濁悪世  320 古色古香  |
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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.