I had hoped to finish One digital UKIYOE drawing by Setsubun, but I didn’t make it in time. The schedule of a sole proprietor can change with just one email request for a quote. The kanji character that was supposed to be used in the drawing for Setsubun would have been shelved…which seemed like a waste, so I released it as a lettering work.



By the way, oni (demons) are often depicted as something to be exterminated and considered evil, like in the tales of Momotaro or the battles with the Four Heavenly Kings of Raiko at Oeyama. In other words, they are something to be corrected.

When creating such lettering works, I always compare various styles from old books, and every time I think: “The stroke order and the way lines end or flick are all over the place even within the same book! LOL”

Some people say the correct way to stroke order the cross in the middle of the kanji for “rice paddy” (田) is from Vertical bar to Horizontal bar, while others write it from Horizontal bar to Vertical bar, then continue downwards and extend horizontally in a cool style.

I don’t know much about it, but it seems that stroke order from Horizontal bar to Vertical bar is commonly accepted in the continent, while stroke order from Vertical bar to Horizontal bar is the standard in Japan as of 2025 textbooks.

When ‘correctness’ changes with location and era, and even within the same person, how should the oni behave?