Stroke order: the rules that cover almost every kanji

Kanji stroke order looks arbitrary until you notice that a dozen rules decide nearly all of it. This guide sets out those rules with examples from the N5 and N4 lists, then the exceptions that catch learners out. Every order described here has been checked against the KanjiVG stroke data used for the stroke diagrams on this site.

Why stroke order matters

• Balance. Written in the standard order, each stroke lands where the next one expects it, so the kanji comes out better proportioned.
• Reading handwriting. In quick handwriting, strokes run into each other in the order they were written. If you know the order, you can follow the pen through a hurried note.
• Counting strokes. Kanji dictionaries and indexes are often sorted by stroke count, and you can only count correctly if you know where one stroke ends and the next begins.
• Handwriting input. Drawing a kanji with your finger to look it up tends to work best when your strokes match the standard ones.
• Memory. Writing the same sequence every time turns a kanji into one familiar movement rather than a pile of lines.

Direction matters as well as order. Horizontal strokes go left to right and vertical strokes go top to bottom. You don't need beautiful handwriting, but you do need the right order, direction and number of strokes.

The basic rules

1. Top to bottom

三 is written from the top line down. The rule applies to parts as well: in 字, the roof 宀 comes before 子.

2. Left to right

川 is written from its left stroke to its right. A kanji with a left and a right part is written left part first: 林 is one 木 and then another, and 休 is 亻 before 木.

3. Horizontal before a vertical that crosses it

In 十 the horizontal comes first, then the vertical through it. 土 is the short horizontal, the vertical, then the long base line. 木 also starts with its horizontal.

4. Centre before matching sides

When a centre stroke has a matching stroke on each side, the centre comes first. 小 is the hooked vertical, then the left stroke, then the right. 水 also starts with its central hook.

5. Outside before inside

Write a frame before what goes inside it. In 同, the frame 冂 comes first, then 一 and 口. In 間, the gate 門 comes before 日.

6. Close the box last

A box such as 口 takes three strokes: the left side, then the top and right side as one bent stroke, then the base. When there is something inside, it goes in before the base closes the box. 日, 四 and 国 all end with their bottom line.

7. A vertical that runs through comes last

中 is 口 first, then the vertical through it. 車 builds the whole body and finishes with its vertical, and 手 writes its slanting stroke and two horizontals before the hooked vertical. In 耳 the long right-hand vertical is the last of six strokes.

8. A horizontal that runs through comes last

Long horizontals that cut across a kanji wait until the end too: 女, 子 and 母 all finish with theirs.

9. Left-falling before right-falling

When a stroke falling to the left (ノ) meets one falling to the right, the left one comes first. 人, 八, 文 and 父 all follow this.

10. Enclosures open at the top or the right

For a frame open on the right, such as the one in 医, the top line comes first, then everything inside, and the corner stroke along the left and bottom last. In 画, the open-topped frame at the bottom is written after the part it holds.

11. 辶 and 廴 come last

The "road" radical 辶 sits on the left and underneath, but it is written after the part it carries: 近 is 斤 then 辶, and 週 and 道 work the same way. 廴 does the same in 建.

12. A small dot at the top right comes last

The dot of 犬 is its last stroke, and the same goes for 式 and 代. 太 also ends with its dot, though that one sits at the bottom.

Exceptions worth learning

右 and 左

右 and 左 begin with what looks like the same pair of strokes, in a different order. 右 starts with the slanting stroke and then the horizontal; 左 starts with the horizontal. The usual explanation is length. In 右 the slanting stroke is short and the horizontal long, so the short one goes first. In 左 the horizontal is the short one. 有 follows 右, and 友 follows 左. 石 starts with its horizontal too: its slanting stroke hangs below the line instead of crossing it.

田 and 王: the vertical comes early

Rule 3 puts horizontals first, but inside 田 the vertical comes before the horizontal: left side, top and right side, inner vertical, inner horizontal, base. The middle of 画 follows the same pattern. In 王 (king), the vertical comes straight after the top line, before the middle and bottom lines. 生 and 主 follow 王: after the strokes at the top comes the vertical, then the two lower horizontals. The 玉 inside 国 is written the same way.

Stroke order taught in China differs from the Japanese standard for a number of characters, so when you check an order, use a Japanese source.

火 and 忄: sides before centre

Against rule 4, 火 starts with its two small side strokes, left then right, and only then writes the two long strokes in the middle. The heart radical 忄, as in 情, also writes both side strokes before its long vertical.

上 and 止: vertical first

Nothing crosses here, so rule 3 doesn't apply, but many learners start these with a horizontal by mistake. 上 begins with the vertical, then the short stroke to its right, then the base line. 止 is the vertical, the short stroke to its right, the short vertical on the left, then the base.

九 and 力

Both are a slanting stroke plus a hooked stroke, but the order differs. 九 starts with the slanting stroke and then the long hooked stroke. 力 starts with its hooked stroke, across and then down, and ends with the slanting stroke. 万 follows 力: the top line, the hooked stroke, then the slant.

必

必 looks like 心 with a slash through it, but it is not written that way. The order is the top dot, the long slanting stroke, the curved hook, then the left dot and the right dot.

走 and 是 come first

Rule 11 does not cover every part that wraps underneath. In 起, the 走 part is written first and 己 after it. In 題, 是 comes before 頁.

How to practise

• Learn the common parts once. Once you know the order of 口, 日, 木, 亻 and 辶, you already know part of the order of many N4 kanji.
• Count the strokes aloud as you write. A wrong count is the quickest sign of a wrong order.
• Write large, on squared paper if you have it, so you can see the proportions.
• Check a new kanji the first time you write it, not after a week of habit. Every kanji page in the N5 and N4 lists shows its strokes in order.

The N5 study plan suggests writing each new kanji a few times on the day you learn it, then reviewing by recognition.