Calligraphy (Japanese: 書道 shōdo) [compare “Ima/Now“ calligraphy by Rikō Takahashi, along with poetry and painting, is highly regarded both in Japan and China, the country of its origins, as well as in other regions influenced by Chinese culture, as the most desirable skill every educated person should have. Moreover, it has been believed that excellence achieved in the art of beautiful writing presents the person practicing it in a favourable light. Calligraphy has been highly valued and regarded as one of the fine arts. In the beginning, it was practised by members of the highest social classes exclusively.
The history of Japanese calligraphy dates back to about the 6^th century AD, when the Chinese system of writing was introduced to the islands. Although, at first, the Japanese used the Chinese language in writing, soon they started writing in their own language using the Chinese signs kanji (Jap.), sometimes modifying them. On the basis of the Chinese ideographs, various Japanese forms of syllabic writing evolved that enabled people to write in their own language.
Two main trends developed in calligraphy; the first one used the Chinese kanji ideographs, the second – the Japanese phonetic symbols of the kana syllabaries (e.g. hiragana or katakana). There were five types of writing and the type was determined by the purpose of a particular text which was to be written using calligraphy: tensho – the archaic writing style still used for seals, reisho – the clerical writing once used in official documents, kaisho − the square writing which was the most common form and the easiest to read, gyōsho − the writing of unbroken lines created with quick moves of a brush to “shorten“ the signs, which was used in less formal circumstances, and sōsho – the “grassy writing”, real cursive writing, which shortened and joined the parts of the sign.
Through the ages, various schools of calligraphy were established by the calligraphy masters, where trainees could practice their skills both in the beautiful painting of sings in a particular style and in conveying specific ideas using them.
After the World War II, there was a relatively casual social atmosphere and society became more and more influenced by the standards of the West. This brought new trends in the art of calligraphy. One of them was the trend where kana symbols and kanji signs were enlarged in compositions, but, on the other hand, the number of signs used was limited. The next trend used excerpts of texts from contemporary Japanese literature; another one, called the Avant-garde style, often led to quite abstract compositions.
The Japanese art of calligraphy is deeply rooted in its rich and valued tradition, though new trends and styles continue to appear, and because of that, the former limits of this art continue to expand further and further.
In the countries of the Far East, calligraphy is treated not just as a means and manner of interpersonal communication, but as an art in itself. Particular attention is paid to ink shades, brush stroke arrangements, as well as brush movement when writing and composing a sign as a whole. The beauty of the written signs may be fully appreciated and understood provided that they have been written both with an agile and skilled hand, and with the utmost focus of mind and soul. However, regardless of the influence of new ideas, the inner essence of calligraphy still remains unchanged.
Instruments used in calligraphy have hardly changed through the ages. A special brush is required, one of two types: a thick one futofude (Japanese: “thick brush“), or a thin one hosofude (Japanese: “thin brush“). The thick one is used when creating the main text, and the thin one – when creating inscriptions and signatures at the end of a text or it’s used in calligraphy using small ideographs or cursive writing. Ink (Japanese: sumi) used to be made of soot obtained from the process of burning wood and oil. It was mixed with glue made of fishbone and leather, and then it was dried in the form of cubical sticks or cubes. As ink had to be used in a liquid form, a stick was pounded in water on a special stone (Japanese: suzuri), which had a hollow on one side; there the ink was combined with water until a proper consistency was obtained. Water was measured with the use of a suiteki dispenser, usually made of metal or ceramic. As all these instruments (brushes, the ink, water dispensers and ink sticks) were highly valued, they were kept in special boxes (Japanese: suzuribako), often carefully and beautifully decorated, especially with lacquer.
Washi handmade paper was used as a ground on which signs were placed. It was made of mulberry paper, and it had high hygroscopicity.
Calligraphies were framed in the form of rolls, similar to traditional Japanese paintings. Emakimono rolls were unrolled horizontally to be looked at piece by piece, from the right to the left; on the other hand, kakemono rolls were unrolled vertically, as in the case of Kyōso calligraphy, as it was essential to be able to contemplate the work in its entirety. The sheet of paper containing the calligraphy was stuck underneath to additional paper, and its edges were decorated with paper or fabric. Kakemono framing is called hyōsō while emakimono framing is called kansubon.

Elaborated by Małgorzata Martini (The Manggha Centre of Japanese Art and Technology),© all rights reserved

See “Ima/Now“ Calligraphy by Rikō Takahashi and “Flower“ calligraphy by Chuei Sekiguchi (alias Kyōso)