History of Japanese Calligraphy
Historically, Japanese calligraphy's main influence was Chinese calligraphy. Japanese calligraphy continued to transform with a combination of the newest as well as past calligraphic styles of both China and Japan. It continued to develop into an original combination of kanji, hiragana and katakana for creating beautiful components.
According to literature, calligraphy was introduced to Japan during the Asuka period. It was imported from China via Buddhism and, with the coming of Chinese calligraphy masterpieces, began to spread in use and popularity.