The history of Japanese Calligraphy(Shodo)

The Japanese language uses three scripts: kanji, hiragana, and katakana.

Kanji are Chinese characters introduced to Japan alongside Buddhism around the 5th century. Japanese lacked a written form at the time, so Chinese characters were used for written communication and religious texts. In the mid-7th century, manyogana(万葉仮名), a writing system that used Chinese characters to represent Japanese sounds, came into use. It is from this period that the oldest works of Japanese calligraphy survive, many of which still use Chinese.

From manyogana came Japan’s other two scripts. Hiragana evolved from the flowing, cursive style used by women of the imperial court. At the same time, katakana was developed by Buddhist monks as a means of abbreviating complex Chinese characters while copying religious texts.
Calligraphy in the Chinese characters peaked in the Heian period, from 794 to 1185. In the early 9th century, the monk Kuukai, Emperor Saga, and Tachibana no Hayanari were called the Sanpitsu, or ‘three brushes,’ and were considered the finest calligraphers of the period.

In the 10th century, another trio, Ono no Michikaze, Fujiwara no Yukinari, and Fujiwara no Sukemasa, established the foundations of kana calligraphy. They were known as the Sanseki, the ‘three traces,’ and are considered the founders of the Japanese style distinct from Chinese imitations.
From these classical foundations, shodo has continued to develop up to the present day.

Details of Workshop

Date& Time: Wednesday, 20th September 13:00 ~ 15:00

Venue: Ocean View Room

Capacity: 10 people (First-come, First-reserved)

Fee:

            *Student/Intern  500 JPY

            *Non-Student     2,000 JPY

*Special Offer!!*

The instructor will write your name down in Chinese characters.

*Please apply to this workshop ASAP, Due to I need to share your name （Name Only） with the instructor in advance to fit Chinese Characters with your name.

Please feel free to contact rikako.kuwae@oist.jp for applying a waiting list.