Shakyo (by calligraphy) gives us mindful time
Shakyo is a Japanese word that refers to the activity of copying Buddhist sutra texts by hand, using Japanese calligraphy. I believe that doing Shakyo is a unique experience and can be one of the mindful times. We can do Shakyo anywhere if we have some writing tools such as pen and paper. However, it is a refreshing time to work on writing sutra texts in a different place than usual. What is Shakyo (写経)? Today, I would like to share my
What we need for Shakyo (by calligraphy)
In the previous article, Shakyo experience, I explained what Shakyo is. I'm now going to introduce you to what we'll need to do prepare in order to do Shakyo. Brush Since Shakyo, copying sutra tesxts, is required to write a series of small letters, the brush needs to be thin. There are some brushes made specifically for Shakyo. Paper Shakyo paper has a certain format. As sultra texts are written vertically, the paper has lines ruled vertically and at regular intervals in advance so
Shakyo experience
Do you know what "Shakyo" is? Shakyo is a Japanese word that refers to the activity of copying Buddhist sutras by hand. Sha (写) means copying and Kyo (経) means sutras. The reason I mention Shakyo here is because it's the act of transcribing text with a brush, which is another form of Japanese calligraphy. I recently had an opportunity to attend a Shakyo session at a temple in Tokyo and had a very fulfilling time. I would like to introduce
Japanese font and kanji generators
If you have an opportunity to create your own website (business and private) or printables, and you want to add Japanese calligraphy characters or kanji, there are several Japanese/Kanji font generators available online. I'd like to introduce some that seem to be interesting; FREE JAPANESE FONTS Over 200 Japanese fonts including kanji, hiragana, katakana available. You will be able to find very rare fonts. KANJI NAME GENERATOR You can enter your name in English and it will be converted to Japanese kanji
Custom order service – digital data available
We are happy to announce the launch of our custom order service. Due to requests from people outside Japan asking for digital data versions of our hard-copy(brushstroke characters), Japanese calligraphy works, we are pleased to now introduce this service to you. Previous uses include product posters, logo's, banners, videos, etc.. If you have an interest in Japanese culture, why not add a traditional calligraphy design to your product or service? For more information, please visit Services page.
Exploring the origin of kanji at Calligraphy Museum
Visited Calligraphy Museum located in Taito-ku, Tokyo. The museum held a special exhibition "History of kanji" displaying a lot of inscriptions on various materials such as animal bones, stones and bronze wares since The 13 century B.C. in China. The museum is small and doesn't look like visually gorgeous much. But it has historically valuable collections and elaborate permanent display. I believe that is informative for serious calligraphy learners. Calligraphy Museum, Tokyo http://www.taitocity.net/zaidan/english/shodou/index.html
Exhibition information “Dojin Shosaku-ten 2019” in Tokyo
I would like to introduce a Japanese calligraphy exhibition called "Dojin Shosaku-ten 2019" . It will be held at National Arts Center Tokyo (Roppongi) from 26 June to 7 July 2019. ("Dojin" means a group of people doing/studying calligraphy in a particular style of creation in this context. "Ten" means exhibition.) A variety of works crated by both emerging and professional calligraphers will be displayed. One of the highlights will be the size of displayed works such as 5-10m width. We
Special exhibition featuring Yan Zhenqing, in Tokyo
Visited a calligraphy exhibition "Unrivaled Calligraphy: Yan Zhenqing and His Legacy" (from 16 Jan to 24 Feb, 2019) at Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, Tokyo. It was a really cold day but the museum was unbelievably crowded
Exhibition “Contemporary SHO – See, Know and Feel Today’s Calligraphy”
Visited a Japanese calligraphy exhibition “Contemporary SHO—See, Know and Feel Today’s Calligraphy” (from November 18, 2018 to January 6, 2019) held at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. It is important to look at the work of other calligraphers for my future creation. About the exhibition This exhibition was comprised of six exiting Japanese male calligraphers. It didn't have a consistent theme though the exhibition, but it was interesting to look at their variations showing each calligrapher's character and manner of works. I was
Tokyo Shosaku-ten 2018(Japanese calligraphy exhibition)
I'd like to introduce a Japanese calligraphy exhibition "The 40th Tokyo Shosaku-ten" in Tokyo Metropolitan Art Muesum. "Sho" means Japanese calligraphy and "saku" means "creation". Two of my works are displayed. This exhibition is a competition style and exhibitors created their works under some rules (e.g. paper size and genre of characters). It is held from 26 November to 2 December. The entrance fee is 500 JPY. https://www.tobikan.jp/en/