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Free printable genkouyoushi paper (原稿用紙)
Genkouyoushi is Japanese manuscript paper: a grid of squares, one character to each, written in columns from top to bottom and right to left. Print a sheet from here, or download it as a PDF to print as many as you need.
Standard 400-square genkouyoushi (20×20)
400 squares · 20 columns of 20 squares · 8.5 mm squares · A4, landscape
The sheet Japanese students write essays on, laid out as on the paper sold in Japan: two halves of ten columns either side of a centre column where the sheet folds.
Large-square genkouyoushi for beginners
120 squares · 12 columns of 10 squares · 15 mm squares · A4, landscape
Squares nearly twice as wide, like the composition paper used in the first years of school in Japan, so a kanji you are still learning has room for every stroke.
How to write on genkouyoushi paper
- Start in the top square of the right-hand column and write down it, then move to the next column on the left.
- Every character takes its own square: kanji, kana, the small ゃ and っ, and punctuation such as 。 and 、.
- Begin each new paragraph one square down from the top.
- A 。 or 、 never starts a column. If one falls there, it goes into the last square of the column before, with the character it follows.
- The narrow strip to the right of each column is for furigana, the small readings written beside a kanji, and for corrections.
- On the 400-square sheet, the centre column is where the paper folds. Leave it empty.
Practise kanji on genkouyoushi squares
The sheet builder prints any kanji on genkouyoushi squares, with each kanji’s stroke order and readings beside its columns and a faded model at the top of each one to trace. Paste a word list or pick a JLPT level.
Make kanji sheets on genkouyoushiOr print ready-made kanji practice sheets by JLPT level.