Printable Hiragana, Katakana & JLPT N5 Kanji Genkō Yōshi Practice Sheets (A4 PDF Guide)
Nothing cements Japanese character proportions faster than writing inside traditional 4-quadrant Genkō Yōshi (原稿用紙) crosshair boxes on real paper—followed by interactive stroke-order verification on your phone or tablet. Whether you are a self-learner mastering the 46 Hiragana, 46 Katakana, and first 103 JLPT N5 Kanji, or a Japanese language teacher preparing weekly classroom handouts, Kanji Scribe's instant PDF Worksheet Generator (/worksheets and /teachers) creates crisp, print-ready A4/Letter practice sheets in one click.
Complete List of 20 Kanji, Readings & Example Vocabulary
Click the ✍️ Practice button on any row to launch interactive stroke-order handwriting practice on the canvas.
| No | Kanji | Onyomi / Kunyomi | Meaning | Example Vocabulary | Strokes | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 日 | 音: ニチ, ジツ 訓: ひ, -び, -か | Sun, day (Center nicely in all 4 Genkō Yōshi quadrants) | 毎日 まいにち (Mainichi) Every day | 4 | ✍️ Practice |
| 2 | 月 | 音: ゲツ, ガツ 訓: つき | Moon, month (Keep left sweep vertical until the bottom third) | 今月 こんげつ (Kongetsu) This month | 4 | ✍️ Practice |
| 3 | 火 | 音: カ 訓: ひ | Fire (Side dots first, then center person strokes) | 火曜日 かようび (Kayōbi) Tuesday | 4 | ✍️ Practice |
| 4 | 水 | 音: スイ 訓: みず | Water (Align the vertical spine right on the center vertical crosshair) | 水泳 すいえい (Suiei) Swimming | 4 | ✍️ Practice |
| 5 | 木 | 音: ボク, モク 訓: き | Tree, wood (Horizontal bar sits slightly above the horizontal crosshair) | 木曜日 もくようび (Mokuyōbi) Thursday | 4 | ✍️ Practice |
| 6 | 金 | 音: キン 訓: かね | Gold, money (Umbrella roof 人 covers the entire lower component) | お金 おかね (Okane) Money | 8 | ✍️ Practice |
| 7 | 土 | 音: ド, ト 訓: つち | Earth, soil (Bottom horizontal bar is wider than the top bar) | 土曜日 どようび (Doyōbi) Saturday | 3 | ✍️ Practice |
| 8 | 山 | 音: サン 訓: やま | Mountain (Center peak first on the vertical crosshair!) | 登山 とざん (Tozan) Mountain climbing | 3 | ✍️ Practice |
| 9 | 川 | 音: セン 訓: かわ | River (Space the 3 vertical strokes evenly across left, center, and right) | 河川 かせん (Kasen) Rivers | 3 | ✍️ Practice |
| 10 | 田 | 音: デン 訓: た | Rice field (The inner + cross aligns directly with the Genkō Yōshi dashed crosshair!) | 水田 / 田中 すいでん (Suiden) / たなか (Tanaka) Rice paddy / Tanaka | 5 | ✍️ Practice |
| 11 | 人 | 音: ジン, ニン 訓: ひと | Person (Right-falling stroke starts slightly below the top of the left sweep) | 外国人 がいこくじん (Gaikokujin) Foreigner | 2 | ✍️ Practice |
| 12 | 口 | 音: コウ, ク 訓: くち | Mouth (Taper the left and right walls slightly inward toward the bottom) | 人口 じんこう (Jinkō) Population | 3 | ✍️ Practice |
| 13 | 目 | 音: モク 訓: め | Eye (Keep the two inner horizontal bars parallel and evenly spaced) | 注目 ちゅうもく (Chūmoku) Attention | 5 | ✍️ Practice |
| 14 | 耳 | 音: ジ 訓: みみ | Ear (6 strokes — bottom horizontal stroke slants slightly upward before the right vertical) | 初耳 はつみみ (Hatsumimi) Hearing for the first time | 6 | ✍️ Practice |
| 15 | 手 | 音: シュ 訓: て | Hand (Top stroke slants down-left; third horizontal stroke is the widest) | 手伝う てつだう (Tetsudau) To help / assist | 4 | ✍️ Practice |
| 16 | 足 | 音: ソク 訓: あし, た.りる | Foot, leg (7 strokes — top 口 box sits neatly in the upper half of the grid) | 遠足 えんそく (Ensoku) Excursion / Field trip | 7 | ✍️ Practice |
| 17 | 学 | 音: ガク 訓: まな.ぶ | Study, learn (8 strokes — top 3 dots slant left, left, then right) | 大学 / 学習 だいがく (Daigaku) / がくしゅう (Gakushū) University / Learning | 8 | ✍️ Practice |
| 18 | 生 | 音: セイ, ショウ 訓: い.きる, う.まれる | Life, student (5 strokes — center vertical spine before the bottom horizontal bar) | 生活 せいかつ (Seikatsu) Daily life | 5 | ✍️ Practice |
| 19 | 書 | 音: ショ 訓: か.く | Write, calligraphy (10 strokes — keep the 6 horizontal bars in the upper half compact) | 清書 / 読書 せいしょ (Seisho) / どくしょ (Dokusho) Fair copy / Reading | 10 | ✍️ Practice |
| 20 | 紙 | 音: シ 訓: かみ | Paper, worksheet (Left thread 糸 takes 45% width; right 氏 takes 55% width) | 練習用紙 れんしゅうようし (Renshū Yōshi) Practice worksheet | 10 | ✍️ Practice |
💡 Study Tips & Exam Strategy
- Use the dashed 4-quadrant crosshairs (十字リーダー) inside each Genkō Yōshi square to balance left-right radicals (like 紙 or 語) and top-bottom components (like 学 or 買).
- Visit https://kanji.aldianapps.com/worksheets (or /jlpt/worksheets) to generate instant printable A4/Letter PDF practice sheets for Hiragana, Katakana, or any JLPT N5–N1 deck.
- Japanese teachers and LPK instructors can open https://kanji.aldianapps.com/teachers to add their school header and a scannable QR code that opens the exact digital stroke-order deck on students' phones.
- Unlock unlimited custom PDF worksheet printing and all 2,136 Jōyō Kanji forever with a one-time Lifetime Pro Pass: $17.99 USD with 10% OFF code KANJI10 (reg. $19.99 USD) or Rp 44.100 IDR with code HEMAT10 (reg. Rp 49.000).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Genkō Yōshi (原稿用紙) and why do Japanese schools use it for handwriting practice?
Genkō Yōshi is traditional Japanese squared manuscript paper where each character box is divided into four equal quadrants by dashed crosshairs. Those quadrant lines train your eye and hand to center vertical spines (like 水 and 山) and proportion left/right radicals accurately.
How do I print Hiragana, Katakana, and JLPT N5 Kanji PDF worksheets on Kanji Scribe?
Open https://kanji.aldianapps.com/worksheets or select any deck on the home canvas and click the 'Print Worksheet (PDF)' button. Your browser's print dialog will format a clean A4 or US Letter Genkō Yōshi practice sheet ready for paper or 'Save as PDF'.
How much does unlimited Genkō Yōshi PDF printing cost?
Starter worksheets and interactive practice are free to try! Unlocking the full 2,136 Jōyō Kanji (JLPT N5–N1), custom worksheet packs, and AI Sensei mnemonics is a one-time Lifetime Pro Pass of $19.99 USD ($17.99 USD with 10% OFF code KANJI10) or Rp 49.000 IDR (Rp 44.100 IDR with 10% OFF code HEMAT10)—zero monthly subscriptions.
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