It's a Shodo World by Gakusho Furuya, illustrated by Shoko Matsui (Taiseido)

It’s a Shodo World is a great introduction to the world of Japanese calligraphy. The subtitle is 日本の伝統 墨のこころ (Nihon no Dento : Sumi no Kokoro). It translates in English to “Japanese Tradition : The Heart of Ink”. It is the authors hope that this book “will give its readers Japanese true aesthetic pleasure by looking at intensely expressive and beautiful Japanese writing symbols and fascinating sumi paintings”. 

Shodo written in kanji characters is 書道. It translates to the “Way of Writing” in English. It is “an art to draw characters on hanshi (Japanese paper for calligraphy) with a Japanese brush in sumi (India ink)”.  It is a form of Japanese calligraphy that originated in China during the Tang dynasty (618-690). 

There are many different scripts that are used in shodo. Three of the basic styles are kaisho, gyosho, and sosho. Kaisho is a square style, gyosho is a semi cursive style, and sosho is a cursive style.

The calligrapher controls the thickness and shading of the characters with every stroke of the brush. It is an art form “to express one’s spirit and ideas”. A great calligrapher not only has to train to master the brush techniques but they must also train their mind.

I had the chance to speak to a calligraphy artist who told me that the most difficult style to write is the kaisho script. As a novice to calligraphy, I thought the square style would be the simplest to write. The artist told me that sosho script is the easiest. As it’s the fastest form of writing, the calligrapher said artists writing in that script often cover up their mistakes. 

After talking to the calligraphy artist, I went through the book a second time to see the different styles the book’s artist used. I could now understand how the kaisho script is the most difficult to master. Although the characters look simple, the artist controls the thickness of the character and also controls the flow of the brush. 

The accompanying sumi-e or ink-paintings give more meaning to each character or characters that are written. The sume-e next to the kanji character for sky (空) is of some koinobori (carp streamers) which are displayed on Children’s Day (May 5th).  Although the holiday is called “Children’s Day”, it is a festival for boys. Legend has it that a courageous carp managed to climb a waterfall.The koinoboriare cloth streamers with an open mouth which the wind can blow through, making the carp appear to swim in the sky. Koinobori  “symbolize parents’ hope that their sons will have a splendid physique and a courageous spirit”.

The latter part of the books include haiku written in the gyosho script. Haiku is a short poetic form which includes three phrases composed in seventeen syllables in a five-seven-five pattern and includes a kigo or seasonal word or phrase. 

Reading and taking the time to look at how the characters were written and how the sume-e relate to the characters will give the reader a new appreciation for the art of calligraphy.  Some readers may even be tempted into writing calligraphy for themselves.

I don’t think I have the discipline to study calligraphy but I still enjoy looking at it as art. I even collect calligraphy written by monks and priests from temples and shrines. They are called goshuin and include stamps of the temple or shrine, then the priest or monk writes calligraphy on top of the stamp and writes the name of the place of worship, the date of the visit and sometimes the name of the deity housed in that particular place. ~Ernie Hoyt