Kanji T-shirts
Create your story with Kanji
We help you to create your own T-shirts with Kanji letters of your choice. As a native Kanji user and calligrapher myself, I cannot stress enough that each Kanji has not only various meanings but also different energy. I help you to choose the right Kanji for your purpose.
What is Kanji?
Kanji (漢字) is a logogram and one of the three characters in the Japanese language (The rest are Hiragana and Katakana). Kanji originally came from traditional Chinese. Kanji has less letters than Chinese though it is still over 50 000. Many of the Kanji characters share the same or similar meanings with Chinese characters.
About the style, Chinese letters used in the mainland China are quite different from Japanese Kanji because it is simplified. Japanese Kanji is closer to the traditional Chinese letters used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
NOTE: While some Kanji letters have same meanings with Chinese, some do not or quite different. In case you seek appropriateness for both Kanji and Chinese, please specify it. I can check it as a separate service.
How it started - the first story
My good friend Carina, a skilled Shiatsu therapist and teacher, lamented: "I cannot find a good uniform for my work when I do therapy and teaching!" She explained me what type of clothing she would like to wear. It was a loose white T-shirt with a Kanji letter. All the letters she wanted to wear were something meaningful for her.
Firstly, we started to discuss about each Kanji letter, why they were important for her. As her image of her uniform was very clear, I said: "OK. I can make it for you!"
How it is made locally - Skåne, Sweden
Carina introduced me her friend printer Anna at Ljungbyhed, Skåne (Sweden). I visited the small print shop and discussed with her thoroughly which T-shirts I wanted.
Though the T-shirts are mass produced and imported from China, I picked only organic and fair trade T-shirts from catalogues. As of 2020, the T-shirt is hand-printed by Anna piece by piece, the balance and small adjustments are also managed by her.
Kanji appearance
Initially, I wanted to use my works of calligraphy (on the right) but I found it more time consuming and costly. So I decided to go for Apple fonts which are allowed to be used for commercial printed matters. The image on the right was made based on my calligraphy meaning 'wolf'.
As of now, I mainly use the YuKyokasho Kanji font (on the left). I feel that the font is mild, flexible and friendly, which embodies Japanese kanji quality. Since Kyokasho means textbooks in Japanese, the font also reminds me of good old Japanese textbooks from my early schooling. The image on the left means 'peace' and 'harmony'.
Feel good with the organic & fair-trade cotton, and relax...
Though my T-shirt journey started with my friend's Kanji needs, I unexpectedly encountered the good sensation of wearing a fair-trade and organic cotton T-shirt! I came to a realisation that I do not need much clothes. All I need is a few good quality T-shirts or sorts. It feels really good. It goes well with the skin. I recommend to choose a bigger size than you usually wear. One reason is the T-shirt brand I chose makes rather smaller than the ordinary T-shirt sizes; another reason is that a Kanji letter goes well with a relaxed mood of the over-sized T-shirt.