Sincerity Kanji (誠): Makoto, Honesty & How to Write It

There is a Japanese ideal that a word, once spoken, should become true — that there ought to be no daylight between what you say, what you mean, and what you do. The character for it is 誠, makoto, and it wears its meaning openly: on the left, 言, “word”; on the right, 成, “to complete, to become.” A word brought to completion. A promise made real. Sincerity, in this character, is not a feeling. It is a word you then go and live up to.

Among the kanji studies, 誠 is the character of wholehearted good faith. It stands beside 義 (righteousness) and 勇 (courage) among the virtues of bushidō — and one famous band of swordsmen flew it on their flag.

At a glance

Where the character comes from

誠 is one of those kanji that explains itself. On the left is 言 (gen), the “word/speech” radical, a mouth with sound or breath rising from it. On the right is 成 (sei), “to become, to complete, to accomplish” — which also lends the character its sound, making 誠 a clean phono-semantic character: meaning on one side, reading on the other.

Put them together and the sense is exact: a word made complete, a word that becomes real. Sincerity, in the logic of the character, is the closing of the gap between saying and doing. Anyone can speak; 誠 is what you have when the speaking is matched, completely, by the acting. That is why it carries truth, honesty, and good faith all at once: they are the same thing seen from different sides.

What 誠 really means in Japan

誠 runs through character, conduct, and devotion.

• 誠実 (seijitsu) — sincere, honest, faithful; one of the warmest things you can say of a person’s character.
• 誠意 (seii) — sincerity, good faith, genuine intent; 誠意を見せる, “to show 誠意,” is what a real apology is meant to do.
• 忠誠 (chūsei) — loyalty, allegiance, devoted fidelity to a person or cause.
• 誠に (makoto ni) — truly, sincerely; a formal “I truly…,” as in 誠にありがとうございます, a heartfelt thank-you.
• Makoto (誠) — a common given name for boys and girls alike, a parent’s wish that the child grow up genuine and true.

The thread is the union of word and deed. Where some virtues are about strength or daring, 誠 is about integrity in the oldest sense: being all of a piece, the inside and the outside the same.

誠 and the Shinsengumi

誠 owes much of its modern fame to a flag. The Shinsengumi, the special police force that defended the old order in the turbulent 1860s, marched under a banner bearing a single character: 誠. For them it meant single-minded sincerity and loyalty — total devotion to their cause, whatever it cost.

History judged the Shinsengumi harshly and then romantically, and through a century of novels, films, and anime their 誠 banner has become one of the most recognizable images in Japanese popular culture: an emblem of devoted, uncompromising purpose. A great many people who could not read another word of cursive know that flag and that character. If you are drawn to 誠, you are in the company of every fan of that story — which is part of what the character now carries.

How to write 誠

Thirteen strokes, in two parts: the speech radical on the left, 成 on the right.

Write the 言 radical first — a short top stroke, then the stack of three short horizontals, then the 口 (mouth) at its foot: seven strokes that should sit tall and narrow down the left side. Then write 成 on the right: a horizontal, the long curving stroke that frames it, the diagonal, and the final slanting stroke with its hook and dot, the flourish that finishes the character.

The balance is the usual left-and-right discipline, with one twist. Keep the 言 radical compact and upright, taking perhaps a third of the width, and let 成 open wider to the right, its sweeping stroke and hook giving the character its motion. The beginner’s faults are a 言 that sprawls and a cramped, hesitant 成. Hold the speech side lean and let the right side breathe and flare. Its strokes are built from the Eight Principles of Yong.

How 誠 looks across the five styles

The standard kaisho form is below; across the five classical styles, 誠 ranges from the upright and balanced to the freely swept:

• Kaisho — the block form above: a lean 言, a wider 成, the hook flaring. The standard.
• Gyōsho — semi-cursive; the speech radical loosens and the two sides begin to link.
• Sōsho — fully cursive; 誠 can melt into a flowing few strokes, all momentum.
• Reisho — clerical; broad and flat, the strokes squared and stately.
• Tensho — seal script; the rounded archaic form, the mouth and the blade-stroke still there.

Where 誠 appears in Japan today

• In praise of character: 誠実 said of an honest, faithful person — high praise in a culture that prizes it.
• In apology and business: 誠意 (good faith), the quality a sincere apology or a fair dealing is supposed to show.
• In names: Makoto, one of the steady, well-loved given names, carried by people across every generation.
• In popular culture: the Shinsengumi’s 誠 banner, everywhere from museum exhibits to hit anime and games.

Before you put 誠 on a gift or a tattoo

For the full process of choosing, confirming, and having a kanji tattoo written, see the complete guide to kanji tattoos.

誠 makes a warm, principled tattoo. It reads as sincerity, honesty, loyalty, and truth, an inward, character-based virtue rather than a display of force, and it carries the romance of the Shinsengumi 誠 for those who know the story. At thirteen strokes it is fairly dense, so give it size and let the right side flare; small and tight, it can blur.

The honest notes are gentle ones. 誠 is benign and well-loved — there is little to mistake in it — though its Shinsengumi association is worth knowing, since for many Japanese the character and that flag are inseparable. And as ever, density rewards real brushwork: a font 誠 looks stiff where a written one flows, so have it brushed by a calligrapher and tattooed from that. It pairs beautifully with 義, righteousness, to name the word-and-the-right-thing together.

For a gift, 誠 suits someone genuine and faithful, a person of their word — or anyone named Makoto, who carries it already.

Where to go next

To carry 誠 further:

• Its fellow virtue — 義 (righteousness), the right thing that sincerity commits to.
• The other makoto — 真 (truth), truth as reality beside truth as good faith.
• The courage to live it — 勇 (courage), brave action backed by good faith.
• The code they share — bushidō, the way of the samurai and its virtues.
• If you’re considering it as a tattoo — the complete guide to kanji tattoos.
• The full character series — browse all the kanji studies.

誠 is a word you go and make true — the closing of the distance between speaking and doing, prized in Japan as makoto and flown, once, on a swordsmen’s flag. Write it with a lean speech-radical and a right side that opens and flares, and the character does what it names: it says something, plainly, and then stands behind it, all of a piece.