How to Write Kakashi Hatake in Japanese

Fans of the anime and manga series "Naruto" recognise Kakashi Hatake as Naruto's laidback but talented mentor. When writing Kakashi Hatake in Japanese, just as when writing anything in Japanese, it is important to note that each character has a proper stroke order. For people just learning to write Japanese, the name "Kakashi Hatake" is a fitting place to start. Unlike traditional Japanese names, which most often contain kanji (Chinese ideograms), the "Naruto" names follow a simple format: hiragana for family names and katakana for given names. Hiragana and katakana are two simplified, phonetic alphabets in the Japanese language.

Write from top to bottom and from right to left. Traditional Japanese reads vertically, starting at the top of a line to the bottom. You also start on the right side of a page and read leftward.

Write the family name first. In the case of Kakashi Hatake, "Kakashi" is his given name and "Hatake" is his family name. Proper Japanese dictates that you say the family name and then the given name, so you should write the name "Hatake Kakashi."

Write the hiragana character for "ha." The first character in Kakashi Hatake's name should be at the top right corner of your page. Begin with the left line, drawing a straight line from top to bottom with a slight twist upward right at the end. Draw the horizontal line on the right half of the character next, from left to right. Draw a vertical line from top to bottom through that horizontal line and curl back to left and then back to the right at the bottom.

Write the hiragana character for "ta." The next character should appear directly below your "ha" character. Begin with the horizontal line, which you should draw from left to right. Next, add the slightly bent vertical line that crosses through that horizontal line by dragging your pen from top to bottom. Underneath the overhanging horizontal line, draw the top half of the circular open-ended circle. Start at the left, drag your pen right, and curl the end of the line slightly downward left at the end. Pick up your pen and draw the bottom of that circle, beginning at the left and ending at the right.

Write the hiragana character for "ke." "Ke" should appear below "ta." Draw the left vertical line first, starting from the top and curling slightly upward to the right at the bottom. Next, draw the short horizontal line from left to right. Finish the character by drawing the second vertical line through that horizontal line from top to bottom. This line should be slightly longer than the first vertical line and should curl somewhat to the left at the end.

Write the katakana character for "ka." You can begin writing Kakashi's given name to the left of the line in which you wrote "Hatake." The first "ka" should be directly to the left of your "ha" and the second "ka" should be below that, to the left of your "ta." Begin with the horizontal line in the character, starting at the left. Draw straight across to the right and, without lifting your pen, make a sharp turn downward at the end of your line. Curl this line slightly to the left. Finish the character by drawing the intersecting vertical line from top to bottom.

Write the katakana character for "shi." The "shi" character should be below the second "ka" and directly to the left of "ke." Draw the top short diagonal line first from upward left in the downward right direction. Draw the similar short line below it in the same way. Finish by drawing the longer diagonal line in the opposite direction, from downward left to upward right.