Round curves. Only one possible form.
Straight strokes. Also a single form — this is how Japan writes names from abroad.
Thousands of characters, each one with its own meaning. Many of them are read «Matthew»: none of them is the correct one.
That is where a person has to choose, not a translator: a Japanese calligrapher who has already written the names of more than 500 people by hand, on the street, one by one.
Is it for a tattoo? Read this first →
Your name carries the meaning of being genuinely what you appear to be, and standing above in what is yours without having to announce it.
Your name carries the meaning of filling up like the full moon, and polishing your craft until it comes out by itself.
Your name carries the meaning of being plain and clean like the fiber of linen, and protecting what matters to you.
Your name carries the meaning of keeping the harmony of what is round around you, and carrying vermilion red with you.
Your name carries the meaning of moving with the grace of someone dancing, and standing above in what is yours without announcing it.
Your name carries the meaning of being genuinely what you appear to be, and taking your place at the center without asking permission.
Your name carries the meaning of filling up like the full moon, and carrying vermilion red with you.
did you like it more than you expected?
☕ buy me a coffeeEverything above is drawn by a typeface: a thousand Matthews, the same stroke. Not this one. The calligrapher dips the brush and writes yours a single time — the ink opens where it opens, the stroke breaks where it breaks.



If you are getting it tattooed, or you seriously want a kanji that is only yours — start here.
Your name printed on what you use every day. We do not sell the shirt: we give you the file and you take it to your printer.
if this made your day, buy me a coffee — it goes straight to keeping this going for people like you.
☕ buy me a coffee