How to draw Japan from memory

A four-step strategy for Japan

1. 01

   Start by fixing the overall footprint. Japan is close to square overall, so a lopsided sketch loses points fast.

2. 02

   Anchor one unmistakable feature — the straightest border section or the sharpest cape — and draw outward from it in a single continuous stroke.

3. 03

   Finish the main landmass completely, then add the remaining 3 pieces as separate strokes. Scoring counts total covered area, so an unclosed island can hurt more than a missing one.

4. 04

   Submit, read the nine-sector grid, and redraw immediately. The sector readout names the region you under-drew, and a second attempt typically gains 10–20 points.

Why Japan is scored this way

Country Drawing does not compare your sketch to a picture of Japan. It scales and centres both your stroke and the real border into the same box, fills them, and measures how much of the two shapes overlap relative to their combined area. That means you are never punished for drawing Japan small, off to one side, or rotated slightly — only for getting the shape itself wrong. The nine-sector grid then splits the real border into a 3×3 mesh and reports coverage per cell, which is how it can tell you that you lost the whole coastline rather than just handing you a number.