Japanese Calligraphy

Today I was being taught how to write a few of the strokes using Japanese Calligraphy (習字). It’s an ancient art that’s surprisingly precise and uses a brush and special paper.

The tools are as follows:

• Brush – ふで or 筆
• Paper – わし or 和紙
• Paperweight – ぶんちん or 文鎮
• Ink stone – すずり or 硯

There are a few specific strokes that are used for the Kanji, and they are drawn in a very specific way.  To the untrained eye, it’s hard to tell, but the shapes of all of the lines are very important as is expressing the meaning of the word.  In the photo is the word for “big” 大きい and the Kanji is meant to reflect the sense of space.  I’d taken a few attempts and couldn’t quite get it exactly right, but this was my closest.

It’s also easier to write Kanji if you are right-handed, and although I’m normally left-handed, I had to try this with my right hand.

When doing Japanese calligraphy it’s important to get the flow and rhythm of the drawing correct as you should never go back over a stroke that doesn’t look quite right.  Therefore it becomes a good form of free expression and can be quite therapeutic.