わ・目・段: The Three Japanese Characters Every Amigurumi Crocheter Should Learn First

Three characters appear on almost every Japanese amigurumi page, and you can learn them in one sitting:

• わ (輪, wa): the ring you start a round piece in.
• 目 (me): a stitch, and the count of stitches.
• 段 (dan): a row, which in amigurumi means one round.

If you can recognize those, plus the words for “increase” (増し目) and “decrease” (減らし目), you can follow most of the shaping in a Japanese amigurumi pattern. The rest is in the symbols; see the Japanese crochet symbols guide.

The big three

わ (wa): the ring

In a Japanese pattern’s key (the box that explains the symbols), わ stands for the way you begin a round piece. A pattern sheet credited to Hamanaka defines it in its legend as 「わ ＝糸輪の作り目」, that is, “wa = thread-loop starting ring”. In English you would call this a magic ring or adjustable ring. In the chart you will see わ written at the center, and the first round’s stitches fan out from it.

Clover’s crochet basics page shows two ways to start circular work: from a ring of chain stitches, or from the yarn end wrapped around your finger. 糸輪 (ito-wa, “yarn ring”) is the second kind, the one English patterns call a magic ring. If a book wants a chain ring instead, its how-to pages will show it.

目 (me): the stitch, and the stitch count

目 means a stitch and, with a number in front, a count: 6目 means six stitches. You will see it in the column that tells you how many stitches to have at the end of each round, and in phrases like 「細編み6目」 (six single crochets).

One thing to keep in mind: 目 is also the everyday Japanese word for “eye.” Pattern pages tend to avoid the clash. Hamanaka’s rabbit amigurumi pattern, for example, lists the plastic eyes as ソリッドアイ (soriddo ai, “solid eye”) and uses 目 only for stitch counts. If a 目 has a number in front of it, it is a stitch count.

段 (dan): the round (or row)

段 is a step, and in crochet a row or round. On a knitting chart, All About explains that the vertical direction counts 段 and the chart is read from the bottom up (see how to read a Japanese knitting chart). On a round amigurumi chart, 1段め is the round worked into the ring at the center, as in the rabbit pattern’s 「わの中に細編み6目編み入れる」 (“work 6 single crochets into the ring”). 2段め is the next round out, and so on.

How these three show up in a real pattern page

Japanese pattern sheets typically carry a stitch-count table with three columns: 段 (round), 目 or 目数 (number of stitches in that round), and 増減 (the increase or decrease for that round). Hamanaka’s rabbit amigurumi pattern heads them 段 / 目数 / 増減; a Hamanaka-credited round seat cushion pattern uses 段 / 目 / 増減. Between the two you can see wording like:

The cushion pattern’s chart uses it in 「続けて縁❶を編む」: carry straight on and work edging ❶.

Increase and decrease: the two shaping words

• 増し目 (mashi-me): increase. A tutorial on handmeid.tokyo defines it as “putting multiple stitches into a single stitch.” For a single-crochet increase, the chart name is 細編み2目編み入れる: work two single crochets into one stitch.
• 減らし目 (herashi-me): decrease. The same tutorial defines it as working multiple stitches together at once; the single-crochet version is 細編み2目一度 (Hamanaka’s rabbit pattern writes 細編み2目1度): single crochet two together.

A simple circle shows the effect. Starting from a ring with six single crochets, the tutorial increases to 12 for a flat circle, and decreasing from 12 back to 6 turns it into a rounded, three-dimensional shape. Famiguram, a second source, describes each round’s count as “stitches per group times number of groups”: 6 stitches is 1 per group over 6 groups, and 12 is 2 per group over 6 groups. In another of its examples, three groups of 4 become three groups of 5, taking a round from 12 to 15 stitches, so not every round is a “double the stitches” step.

How the chart shows it

Per the amimo guide, two single-crochet symbols coming out of the same base are a candidate for an increase. Symbols from separate positions in the previous round that meet at the top may mean that stitches are being combined; amimo advises confirming the name and steps in the pattern’s legend. See the crochet symbols guide for the marks themselves.

One more thing: round work

Some Japanese patterns tell you to close each round with a slip stitch, and others spiral without closing. The same amimo guide says to check whether the round is closed with 引き抜き編み (slip stitch) or continues as a spiral. Look at the legend before round 2.

Quick list to copy

FAQ

Do I have to learn kanji to use a Japanese amigurumi book? No. The kanji repeat across pages. Learning わ, 目, 段, 増, 減 covers most counts.

Is わ a chain ring or a magic ring? In the Hamanaka-credited pattern cited here, わ is defined as 糸輪の作り目, the yarn ring wrapped around your finger, which is a magic ring. If your book wants a chain ring instead, its how-to pages will show it.

What does 2目編み入れる mean? Work two stitches into the same stitch, a one-stitch increase.

How do I know how many stitches to have after each round? Use the 目 column of the table (see “How these three show up…”).

Where do I go next? Japanese crochet hook sizes converts the hook numbers in your book (6/0, 7/0 …) to mm and US sizes.

Sources

All pages below were opened on 2026-10-17.

• Hamanaka, rabbit amigurumi pattern AMU-498-4 (PDF; 段/目数/増減 table, ソリッドアイ, わの中に細編み6目編み入れる): https://www.amuuse.jp/recipe/AMU-498-4.pdf
• Hamanaka-credited round seat cushion pattern PRS-004 (PDF; legend わ＝糸輪の作り目, 段/目/増減 table, 続けて): https://amuuse.jp/recipe/recipe/files/pdf/PRS-004.pdf
• amimo, “編み図の読み方完全ガイド”: https://amimo-app.com/ja/blog/chart/
• All About (Japan), knitting chart basics: https://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/473203/
• handmeid.tokyo, circle increases and decreases: https://handmeid.tokyo/crochet-cycle-decrease-increase/
• Famiguram, “円形を編むときの増やし目/減らし目の考え方”: https://famiguram.hatenablog.com/entry/idea1
• Clover, “かぎ針編みの基礎-2／基本の編み方” (two ways to start circular work): https://clover.co.jp/knitting/crochet_basic