In short: you can design your own kanji T-shirt, hoodie, cap or beanie online in 5C5V Studio, or get a quick one-of-one drawn for you in Asobi. You pick a kanji from a list that tells you what each one means, choose print or embroidery, and I make it to order in 工房 KŌBŌ, our workshop. Caps and beanies start at £29.95, tees are £39.95 and hoodies start at £54.95, with every placement included. An Asobi piece is one of one, and a Studio piece is made just for the person who designed it.
Can't get to a calligraphy workshop in Tokyo?
Search for a custom kanji T-shirt and most of what comes back is marketplace listings, freelance gigs and tourist workshops in Tokyo, Kyoto and Asakusa. At the workshops you write a kanji with a brush, with a teacher beside you, and take it home on a T-shirt.
They are a lovely thing to do, and if you are going to Japan I would book one. But you have to be there on the day, and most people searching for this are not.
So here is my version. Can't get to a Tokyo calligraphy workshop? Design your own kanji piece here, made just for you. It is not the same as holding the brush, but it gives you a character that means something, written properly, on clothes you would actually wear.
Studio or Asobi: which one to use
There are two tools, and both end in the same place: a piece made for you in KŌBŌ.
- Asobi 遊び心 (Studio Play) is the quick one, built for your phone. You make a few picks and code draws you a piece nobody else has. Don't like it? Draw again. It costs nothing.
- 5C5V Studio is the full design tool. Upload your own art, write your name in Japanese, carve a hanko seal, add a crest or a pattern, and choose from 23 blanks. It works on a phone, but on a computer you get the whole toolkit: drag, resize to the millimetre and nudge with the keyboard.
If you want something in a couple of minutes, start with Asobi. If you already have an idea, or your own artwork, go to Studio.
How to make a piece in Asobi
Asobi has three ways in: Today (one piece everyone shares until midnight), Draw and Mix. Draw works like this.
- Pick a city and its kanji: Sapporo 希 hope, Tokyo 夢 dream, Kyoto 和 harmony, Osaka 力 strength or Yokohama 信 trust.
- Pick a collection (Neon Dawn, Edo or Sumi), an hour of the night and the weather. You can add a date and your initials too.
- Choose a T-shirt, hoodie, cap or beanie, its colour and the colour of the kanji.
- Press draw again until you like it, then press Keep this one.
There is no generative AI in it. Each piece is drawn by code from 5C5V parts, your picks and a throw of the dice. When you keep one you get a code, and only that code opens the design again. Change a pick before you keep it and that version is gone for good, which is the point.
In Mix, each side can be something different: the city kanji, one of the five Edo pieces, a freshly drawn piece, or nothing. So an Edo piece on the front with a new drawn back is fine. If any side is drawn, the whole piece is one of one.
How to design a piece in 5C5V Studio
Open Studio and choose Make it for me 工房 KŌBŌ. That skips the competition form and takes you straight to your size and bag at the end. You can start from your own artwork, from a blank, from scratch, from a kanji or your name, or from a crest, a pattern or one of the five city kits. Then:
- Pick what you are making. Six T-shirt fits, three hoodies, two crewnecks, five caps, six beanies or a framed print. Each one tells you the fit, fabric weight, sizes and where it is made.
- Pick a colour and a spot. Front, back or sleeve. Studio shows the biggest size each spot takes.
- Add your design. You can crop it, take the background off, try a look such as Sumi ink wash or Ukiyo-e, and add a matching hanko on the sleeve.
- Let it check your work. It checks sharpness and fit, and for embroidery whether the lines are thick enough to stitch.
- Make it for me. Choose your size, tick the box to say the artwork is yours, and it goes in your bag.
Choosing a kanji that means something
This is the part I care about most. A lot of kanji clothing is a character picked because it looks good, sometimes with a meaning nobody checked. I don't want 5C5V to be that. Japan without the gift-shop look.
In Studio you pick from 40 characters, and each one tells you what it means before you use it. 夢 is dream, 絆 is bond, 誠 is sincerity, 静 is calm. Tap one and you get its readings, its stroke count and the stroke order drawn out. You can write it in five styles, from brush to seal script, and put the meaning in English underneath.
You can type your own kanji too, but Studio can't check its meaning for you. If you go that way, ask someone who reads Japanese first.
My advice is the same as for the city pieces: pick the one that is true to where you are now, not the one that sounds best. My guide to the meaning behind the kanji on every 5C5V collection goes through the five city characters, and Respect Notes explains how I use kanji in general.
Print or embroidery
Studio asks how each spot should be made, and recommends one based on your design. Print is flat ink, and full colour, photos and gradients are fine. Embroidery is stitched in thread and slightly raised, with up to six colours. It suits bold shapes, and a single kanji is a good fit.
You can change the colour of the kanji, printed or stitched. Caps and beanies are always embroidered. On a tee, the kanji on the front can be printed or embroidered, and anything on the back is printed. On our heavyweight ISHI tee and KUMO hoodie, embroidery stands on its own: add a back print and the whole piece is printed. The HIBI, IRO, KASUMI and NAGASODE tees in Studio take a stitched front with a printed back. Studio and Asobi only offer what each blank can actually be made with, so you don't need to remember the rules.
To see finished pieces first, have a look at the T-shirts, hoodies and caps already in the shop.
How KŌBŌ makes it
工房 KŌBŌ means workshop. It is where Studio and Asobi designs get made, one at a time, to order.
- Caps and beanies from £29.95
- T-shirts and long-sleeve tees £39.95
- Hoodies and crewnecks from £54.95
- Framed prints from £59.95
That is one price per piece, with every placement included. A chest kanji with a back print costs the same as the chest on its own. And because you designed it, you get 10% off your own piece, taken off automatically on the way to your bag. Prices checked 20 October 2026.
I look over every KŌBŌ order by hand before it is made, and if something can't be printed or stitched I'll get in touch first. Making usually takes 2 to 5 working days. Delivery after that is usually 2 to 6 working days to the UK and EU, and 4 to 8 to the US and Canada.
Because a KŌBŌ piece is made for one person, I can't take it back or swap the size, so please check the size guide before you order. If it arrives faulty, misprinted or damaged, email me within 30 days with a photo and I'll replace it or refund you.
Made something good? Enter it
The 5C5V design competition is open until 23:59 UK time on 26 November 2026, and you can enter straight from Studio or from a piece you kept in Asobi. Five winners get a cash prize, their design sold here with their name on it, and half the profit on every sale for two years. I would rather pay designers than influencers, and this is how I do it.
Questions people ask
Can I put my name in kanji on a T-shirt?
Yes, with one honest caveat. In Japanese, names from outside Japan are written in katakana, the script used for foreign words, so Studio gives you the standard katakana spelling first. It also offers an ateji version for fun: real kanji chosen for the sound of each syllable, each with a good meaning. It is playful, not an official name. You can also turn your name into a hanko seal, which makes a good personalised gift.
Can I upload my own design?
Yes, in Studio. Choose "I have a design" and drop your file in. Before you order you tick a box to say the artwork is yours, or that you have permission to use it. Please no logos, brands or famous faces that aren't yours. Asobi doesn't take uploads.
How long does it take?
Designing takes about five minutes in Studio, less in Asobi. Making takes 2 to 5 working days, and UK delivery is usually another 2 to 6.
Can I return a custom piece?
Only if it arrives faulty, misprinted or damaged. It is made just for you, so I can't sell it on. Everything else in the shop still has 30-day returns, as set out on the returns page.
Will anyone else have the same design?
An Asobi piece is drawn once and only its code opens it again, so nobody else can have the same one. The exception is Asobi's Today piece, which everyone shares until midnight. A Studio piece is made just for you, but if someone else picks the same kanji, style and blank, theirs could look the same. The more of yourself you put in, like your name, your own art or a hanko, the more it is yours alone.
Written by the founder of 5C5V. I design every collection from Copenhagen, built around five Japanese cities and the virtue each one stands for. Questions about a design, sizing or an order? Email matthew@5c5v.co.uk. It comes straight to me. More about 5C5V.
0 comments