Illustrator and embroidery artist Tomoko Kubo has embarked on an epic linguistic journey of embroidering all 46 characters in the hiragana lettering system. Each piece is carefully designed so that within each character are individually embroidered images that depict foods, animals and activities that begin with that character. Not only are they visually beautiful but are also fun ways for beginners of the Japanese language to identify and learn words!
The first character in the hiragana lettering system is あ (pictured above) and it contains embroidered images of あり (ants), あめ (rain), あしあと (footprints) and several other words that begin with あ.
The embroidered hiragana are a personal project that the artist began a few years ago, completing new characters in between paid work and commissions. The latest in the series appears to be す, which would indicate that the artist is almost 30% done. You can follow along on Instagram, and also browse the artist’s shop which sells prints and other items.
