In Japanese, calligraphy is called shodou, or “the way of writing”. Unlike its Western counterpart, it is widely practiced by people of all ages and all walks of life in Japan. Indeed, all Japanese children have to learn the basics of calligraphy as part of their elementary school education. (quoted from this site)

This is Kamimurasan demostrating his calligraphy skills.


Since this session has been few months ago, I quite forgot most of the details. Then I found this site JNT.COM and It contains the very same procedure on how to do it. I might as well share them with you.
1.Just as an artist mixes the colors on her palette before she starts to paint, so the calligrapher first has to mix water and sumi. Here you can see Tsurutani sensei using his mizusashi to add a little water to the hollow at one end of the suzuri whetstone.

2.He then takes the stick of sumi, which you can see in the foreground of the last picture, and rubs it gently on the suzuri, blending it with the water to form the liquid ink

3.Taking his brush, he dips it in the ink, being sure to allow it to soak up just the right amount. The calligraphy brush you can see him using here has bristles made of horse hair,

4.Finally he is ready to put brush to paper. The bunchin holds the paper steady as he focuses on creating the kanji character. He writes each stroke in a particular order, applying or reducing pressure to produce the most balanced form.

It’s our turn to shine! Honestly it’s very hard to adjust the pressure of your hand to
the brush into the paper. And I think its the key to ba able to right beautifully.



Ellen-san is quite good!


We’re waiting for our works to be all dried up!