Inspired by Seimei Handan — a centuries-old Japanese practice of reading names through stroke counts. The Five Grids brings this approach to English: all five grids, free, no email required.
Reads your birthdate — the fixed coordinates of when you arrived.
Reads your name — the one inheritance you can still shape.
Your birthday is fixed. Your name is design space.
Want a deeper reading — or a reading for two names together?
See our services →The free reading shows you the structure. For decisions that matter — naming a child, choosing a business name, reading a relationship — we offer focused consultations.
Bring two names — partners, co-founders, parent-child — and we map how their five grids interact. Where they reinforce, where they tension, what to watch for over time.
We propose names that make all five grids favorable for your child — given the family name you've already inherited. Custom proposals, considered constraints, and full grid breakdowns for each option.
Every Tuesday: one celebrity name analyzed across all five grids, one reader-submitted name, and a short essay on the method itself. Free forever.
Japanese name reading (姓名判断) has been practiced for centuries. Here's the short version.
Each letter has a specific stroke count, based on the formal writing order taught in Japan's Ministry of Education guidelines.
Stroke counts combine into five grids: heaven (天格), person (人格), earth (地格), outer (外格), total (総格).
Each grid maps to a domain of life — lineage, identity, path, environment, life arc — and a timing band.
Same input (your name), totally different lens.
| Western Numerology | Japanese Stroke Reading | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Pythagoras, Hebrew Kabbalah | Edo-era kanji scholarship |
| Method | Letter → number → sum | Stroke count of formal writing |
| Reading lens | Single life-path number | Five simultaneous grids |
| Time scope | Lifetime archetype | Lineage + present + future |