Hiragana "Mi" Coloring Pages

The "Mi" in "Mikan"

This coloring page is for practicing the Hiragana "Mi".
On the left, there are two "mikan" oranges.
One orange has a single leaf on its stem. The other orange is half-peeled, so you can see the segments inside.
On the top right, you will find a big outlined "Mi" and the word "mikan". On the bottom right, there are boxes for tracing practice.

2 Coloring pages

The 1st sheet is a new coloring page with a picture on the left, a big "Mi", and tracing practice all together.
The 2nd sheet is a coloring page with lots of pictures of things that start with "Mi" around a big "Mi" in the middle.
It has pictures like earthworm, honeybee, miso soup, and future, and the names are written below the pictures too.
There is also a mandarin orange in the corner of the 2nd sheet, so try comparing it with the mandarin orange on the 1st sheet!

Hiragana "Mi" was born from "美"

Hiragana are letters created a long time ago by simplifying Kanji characters.
The original Kanji character for "み" is "美", which means "beautiful".
It is said that as people wrote "美" quickly and smoothly with a brush, it lost some lines and became the shape of "み" we use today.
Since Hiragana "Mi" was born from a beautiful Kanji character, try to write it very carefully and neatly!

Tips for writing Hiragana "Mi"

Hiragana "Mi" is a character written with 2 strokes.
For the 1st stroke, draw a line to the right, go down to the lower left, make a nice little loop, and keep stretching it out long to the right.
The 2nd stroke is a slanting line that goes from the top right down to the bottom left.
Draw the 2nd stroke so it crosses the line from the 1st stroke that stretched to the right.
If you make the loop small and the line to the right nice and long, your Hiragana "Mi" will look super balanced!

Words starting with "み" (Hiragana "Mi")

Words that start with “み” include みず (water), みち (road), みどり (green), and みみ (ears).
Words like “みみ” (ears) and “みみず” (earthworm) have Hiragana "Mi" twice in a row!
Hiragana "Mi" by itself can mean fruit on a tree or your body, too.
How many things starting with Hiragana "Mi" can you find around you?

The word "Mikan"

"Mikan" is an orange fruit that tastes delicious in winter.
You can peel the skin easily with your hands and eat it one segment at a time.
Eating mikan at a kotatsu is something you often see in Japanese winters.
Just like the peeled mikan in the picture on the left, try counting how many segments a real mikan has, too!

Color the Big "Mi" Like a Mandarin Orange

Color the big outlined Hiragana "Mi" with any color you like.
If you use orange to match the mandarin orange, your Hiragana "Mi" will look bright and cheerful!
Try changing colors between the 1st stroke and 2nd stroke, like orange and green. That way, you can easily see it is made of 2 strokes.

Use Different Colors for the Orange Peel and Segments

Let's color the peel of the mandarin orange orange.
If you make the edge of the round orange a little darker, it will look nice and round!
For the peeled orange segments, try using a slightly lighter orange or a yellowish orange. This makes it easy to tell them apart from the peel.
Keep the inside of the peel whitish, and color the leaf and stem green.

On the 2nd Page, Remember the Colors of Things

Try coloring the earthworm light pink or reddish-brown.
For the honeybee, draw yellow and black stripes to make it look real!
For the future town and robot, use dreamlike colors that you invent yourself.

Tracing Practice

In the bottom right box, there are 8 light gray Hiragana "Mi" lined up.
Hold your pencil correctly and trace slowly so you do not go outside the gray lines.
The vertical and horizontal dotted lines in the box show you the center of the character. Use the dotted lines as a guide to check where to start writing and where to stop.
After writing one, compare it with the big example character.
You do not have to write all 8 at once. Take your time and write carefully at your own pace, like doing 2 each day.

Satsuma Mandarins Are from Japan

The mandarins we often eat are a kind called Satsuma mandarins.
Although "Satsuma" uses a Chinese place name in Japan, Satsuma mandarins actually came from Japan.
People say they first grew in the area that is now Kagoshima Prefecture.

Prefectures That Grow Lots of Mandarins

Mandarins are grown a lot in warm places.
Wakayama Prefecture, Ehime Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture are famous for growing mandarins.
Many mandarin farms spread across sunny mountain slopes facing the sea.

If You Eat Too Many, Your Hands Turn Yellow

If you eat a lot of mandarins, your palms might turn a bit yellow.
This happens because the stuff that gives mandarins their color builds up in your body.
If you eat fewer mandarins, your skin goes back to its normal color after a while.

Try Eating the White Strings Too

Many people peel off the white strings on mandarin slices before eating them.
But these white strings have good things in them for your body.
If you do not mind them, try eating the strings too.