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Japanese Drawing Ideas

One real thing from Japan with the detail to get right: a place, a dish, a craft or a pattern.

Japanese Drawing Ideas

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  1. Mount Fuji with its snow capThe highest peak in Japan: an exceptionally even cone, under snow for about five months of the year.

Next step Nature drawing ideas

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Nature 14

  • A green pheasant The national bird of Japan. Draw the long tail first, then fit the body to it.
  • A Japanese giant salamander A fully aquatic salamander found only in Japan, the third largest in the world.
  • A Japanese spider crab At about 3.75 m across, it has the largest leg span of any arthropod.
  • A pair of red-crowned cranes dancing A flock lives all year in eastern Hokkaido. The birds dance in every season of the year.
  • A Shiba Inu sitting A Japanese dog breed. Most carry the tail curled over the back.
  • A sika deer in Nara Park Over 1,200 wild sika deer roam freely in Nara Park. The sika is also called the spotted deer.
  • A tanuki The Japanese raccoon dog, or tanuki, is a wild member of the dog family found only in Japan.
  • A wisteria trellis in flower Japanese wisteria has the longest flower clusters of any wisteria; some reach 2 m.
  • Mount Fuji with its snow cap The highest peak in Japan: an exceptionally even cone, under snow for about five months of the year.
  • One cherry blossom, face on Cherry blossom, sakura, is considered the national flower of Japan and is central to hanami, flower viewing.
  • One snow monkey up to its chin in a hot spring The Japanese macaque lives farther north than any other monkey, and some bathe in hot springs.
  • Sakurajima sending up ash An active volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture. Its name means Cherry Blossom Island.
  • Three Japanese maple leaves on a twig The leaf is split into five, seven or nine sharply pointed lobes, like the fingers of a hand.
  • Two koi circling each other Koi are colored carp, bred from the early 19th century in Niigata. Draw the patches like a map.

Places and buildings 14

  • A noren in a shop doorway A fabric divider hung in a doorway, with one or more slits cut up from the bottom.
  • A pine-covered islet at Matsushima Some 260 tiny islands covered in pines, counted among the Three Views of Japan.
  • A raked rock garden A Japanese dry garden sets rocks in gravel or sand that is raked to look like ripples in water.
  • A room of tatami mats and shoji screens Tatami are straw floor mats faced with woven rush; shoji are sliding paper doors with a lattice inside.
  • A stone lantern in a garden A tōrō is built of stacked parts: a post, a platform, a fire box, a roof and a jewel on top.
  • A thatched farmhouse of Shirakawa-gō The steep thatched roof sheds snow. The style is named for hands pressed together in prayer.
  • A torii gate, face on A gate found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine. Many are painted vermilion with a black top beam.
  • The five-story pagoda of Hōryū-ji It stands at a temple whose main hall is widely recognized as the world's oldest wooden building.
  • The Golden Pavilion and its reflection At Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto the top two floors of the pavilion are covered in gold leaf.
  • The Kintai Bridge A wooden bridge of 1673 at Iwakuni that crosses its river in a series of five arches.
  • The nose of a Shinkansen train Japan's high-speed railway opened its first line in 1964. A long, low nose and a band of windows.
  • The stacked roofs of Himeji Castle's keep Often called the White Heron Castle for its brilliant white walls.
  • Tokyo Tower A lattice tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower, painted white and international orange.
  • The torii of Itsukushima at high tide At high tide the gate of this island shrine seems to float on the water.

Food 14

  • A bento box with its lid beside it A single-portion meal in a lidded box, often divided so each food has its own space.
  • A boat of six takoyaki A ball-shaped snack from Osaka, made of batter with octopus inside.
  • A bowl of kakigōri Shaved ice with syrup, often with condensed milk. A mound far taller than its bowl.
  • A melonpan A sweet bun under a layer of crisp cookie dough, textured like the skin of a melon.
  • A plate of wagashi Traditional sweets made to follow the seasons and often served with green tea.
  • A sushi roll cut into rounds Makizushi is rolled with a mat called a makisu and is generally wrapped in nori.
  • A taiyaki A fish-shaped cake named after the red sea bream, most often filled with sweet bean paste.
  • Chopsticks lifting noodles from a bowl of ramen Typical toppings: sliced pork, nori, bamboo shoots, narutomaki and scallions.
  • Kagami mochi A New Year decoration: two round rice cakes, the smaller on the larger, with a bitter orange on top.
  • One piece of nigiri sushi, close up In nigiri the seafood sits on a small block of hand-pressed rice.
  • Two onigiri on a plate, one bitten A rice ball pressed into a triangle or a cylinder and wrapped in seaweed.
  • Two skewers of hanami dango on a plate Hanami dango are pink, white and green rice-flour dumplings, made in cherry blossom season.
  • Two tempura shrimp Tempura is fish or vegetables coated in batter and deep-fried. Give the coat a rough, bubbly edge.
  • Zaru soba on its bamboo tray Soba are thin buckwheat noodles. Zaru is the bamboo tray they were once steamed on.

Crafts and things 14

  • A bonsai in its pot Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing and shaping miniature trees in containers.
  • A daruma with one eye painted in A round, hollow doll. The owner paints one eye on choosing a goal and the other when it is reached.
  • A folding fan, half open The folding fan was invented in Japan, between the 6th and 9th centuries.
  • A kendama, ball on the spike A handle with a spike and cups, tied by a string to a ball that has a hole in it.
  • A kimono on a stand A wrapped garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, worn left side over right with an obi sash.
  • A kokeshi doll A simple wooden doll with no arms or legs, made in the hot-spring towns of Tōhoku.
  • A maneki-neko The beckoning cat: by tradition a calico Japanese Bobtail with one paw raised.
  • A pair of geta Open wooden sandals held on by a fabric thong and raised on teeth, most often two.
  • A paper umbrella from above A wagasa has a bamboo frame with washi paper glued over it and oiled.
  • A temari ball Temari means hand ball: a ball covered in embroidery, given as a sign of friendship.
  • A teru teru bōzu at a window A small white doll of tissue paper or cloth, hung up in hope of sunny weather.
  • An origami crane The folded paper crane is the orizuru. A thousand strung together are called senbazuru.
  • Carp streamers on a pole Koinobori are carp-shaped windsocks flown for Children's Day, May 5.
  • Three glass wind chimes in a row A fūrin is a small bowl-shaped bell hung in summer. A strip of paper catches the breeze and rings it.

Patterns and ways of drawing 14

  • A big wave in flat woodblock shapes Ukiyo-e artists made woodblock prints from the 17th to the 19th century. Flat color, firm outline.
  • A bowl mended with gold seams Kintsugi mends broken pottery with lacquer mixed or dusted with gold, so the cracks show.
  • A family crest in a circle Mon are emblems that identify a person, a family or an institution. Fit one plant shape into a circle.
  • A fish print, gyotaku Fishermen inked a fish and pressed it onto paper to record a catch, a practice from the mid-1800s.
  • A folding screen with one branch across it Byōbu are folding screens of joined panels that carry painting and calligraphy.
  • A kagome basket-weave pattern A traditional woven bamboo pattern; its name joins the words for basket and eye. Triangles ring each hexagon.
  • A seigaiha wave pattern A traditional Japanese motif. Stack rows of arches, each row sitting in the gaps of the last.
  • A shippō pattern of circles Shippō, the seven treasures, is a geometric pattern of sashiko. Overlap each circle with its neighbors.
  • A tate-waku pattern Its name means rising stream: pairs of wavy upright lines that swell apart and pinch together.
  • An asanoha star pattern Named for the hemp leaf. Rule a grid of triangles, then split each one in three from its center.
  • An ichimatsu check A checkered pattern that was popular in Japan in the Edo period. Two colors, square by square.
  • An uroko pattern of triangles Uroko means fish scales, a pattern used in sashiko stitching. Fill a strip with triangles, dark and light.
  • Bamboo in a few brush strokes Ink wash painting, done in washes of black ink, grew in Japan from the 14th century.
  • Sashiko stitches on dark cloth Sashiko is stitching that strengthens cloth, by tradition white cotton thread on indigo.

How it works

Seventy Japanese drawing ideas, each real and named: a gate that seems to float at high tide, a cake shaped like a fish, a doll with one eye painted in. One group is traditional patterns and ways of drawing.

Read the full guide

Things from Japan

Four groups hold things: Nature, Places and buildings, Food, Crafts and things. Each idea says what the thing is and what it is for. A torii stands at the entrance of a shrine; carp streamers fly for Children's Day; kagami mochi is a New Year decoration.

Japanese ways of drawing

The fifth group has seven repeating patterns, among them seigaiha waves, asanoha stars and the ichimatsu check, each built on a grid you can rule in pencil. It also holds brush bamboo, a woodblock wave and gyotaku, the fish print. Manga and anime have a list of their own.

  • Rule a light grid before any pattern and erase it last.
  • For a reflection, as under the Golden Pavilion, repeat the shapes upside down and break them with ripples.

Questions and answers

What are some easy Japanese things to draw?

Mount Fuji with its snow cap, a torii gate, an onigiri, hanami dango on two skewers, a daruma, a maneki-neko and a seigaiha wave pattern. The whole Easy level sits under More filters.

What is the national flower of Japan?

The cherry blossom, sakura, is considered the national flower and is central to hanami, the custom of flower viewing. The national bird is the green pheasant. Both are in the Nature group.

What is a daruma doll?

A round, hollow doll. Its eyes are blank when it is bought: the owner paints in one eye on choosing a goal or wish, and the other once the goal is reached.

Does this list have anime or manga?

No. It holds real things from Japan and traditional patterns, with no character from any series. Manga drawing conventions such as eyes and hair are on the anime list, linked below.

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