Japanese Writing – Difficult? Necessary?

Have you ever wondered how to learn Japanese writing? Is it difficult? Is it necessary? How should I study Japanese writing? In this article, we will learn details about writing in the Japanese language.

The Japanese language is composed of three types of writing, used simultaneously, called hiragana, katakana (used for foreign words) and kanji (ideograms of Chinese origin).

Below we will leave a video that I recorded on the subject (the video is in Portuguese):

Should I learn Japanese writing?

If your goal is to learn Japanese quickly, you may not need to pay much attention to Japanese writing; the most you should focus on writing is hiragana and katakana.

Learning Japanese writing requires a lot of effort and time, something that most people do not have. Fortunately, writing is not necessary to speak, read, and type in the Japanese language.

Nowadays, we rarely write on paper; I myself only write my name when signing documents. So, Japanese writing is not that important unless you practice it in your daily life or have some kind of passion for it.

The Negative Points of Ignoring Japanese Writing

Even if you can read hiragana, katakana, and even kanji perfectly, not knowing how to write can complicate things when trying to find an ideogram by strokes or drawing it on paper.

I myself am one of those people who, even after learning to write hiragana, due to lack of use, get completely lost when trying to write it, even though I can read it perfectly in any text.

How to learn Japanese Writing?

Sooner or later, it will be important to learn something about Japanese writing, such as the order of strokes, which usually starts from top to bottom and from right to left, but there are exceptions.

Learning hiragana writing can be useful when memorizing or recognizing the Japanese alphabet. Having such a skill can also be useful in the job market or office.

To learn Japanese writing, you can use mobile apps that allow you to draw kana and ideograms, as well as teach you the correct order of strokes.

Study the radicals of the ideograms thoroughly to easily learn the writing and meaning of the ideograms. You can also follow YouTube channels like the calligrapher Japanese Takumi.

There is no better tip for learning Japanese writing than to practice and practice. Just doodle on calligraphy sheets daily until you get the hang of it and then achieve perfection. I hope this article has helped you understand your priorities regarding Japanese writing!