"Flat" by Nao

tai-ra, hira, hei, byō

Generally, each character has two kinds of readings, which are kun’yomi and on’yomi. The former means something, the latter gives its pronunciation that derived from Chinese characters.

When you read this character in kunyomi, that is, taira, it means flat.

In onyomi, the sounds hei and byō don’t mean anything particularly. We use it with other characters. For example, heikō means parallel. The kō of heikō is to go. The English flat surface is the Japanese heimen. The men of heimen is surface. Equality for the Japanese is byōdō. The dō means equal.

Now, let me explain how to draw this. The two dots are facing each other, that is, we can see the connection between them. They don’t connect with each other on the paper but they do in the air.

1. Draw the shorter horizontal line from left to right.
2. Draw the dot on the left. Begin this one gently. Watch the shape carefully. Its round shape comes on the left. When you raise the brush, go toward the next stroke. So you can see the ending of this dot and the starting point of the next dot.
3. Draw the triangle shape dot on the right. Begin this one with the whole brush so that it looks strong. Immediately prepare to raise the brush drawing toward the center of the character. Definitely this is heading toward the next stroke.
4. Draw the longer horizontal line.
5. Draw the vertical line at the center. Its ending is thinner. Do not press the brush at the end. Just gently raise the brush.