Menu

Home
Mukon Ohmori Work by Mukon Ohmori Japanese calligraphy What distinguishes good calligraphy from bad? Learn Japanese Calligraphy A Brief History of Japanese Calligraphy (sho) Notes on Japanese Poetry Further Reading What is Zen? ConnectedGlobe index

To see this page in your own language use the following translation bar.


Japanese Calligraphy


by Graham Hawker

What is Calligraphy?

Calligraphy is an art form that has been studied for over three thousand years.

A knowledge of calligraphy is an important step in the understanding of Japanese culture.

Calligraphy is not merely an exercise in good handwriting, but rather the foremost art form of the Orient. It is the combination of the skill and imagination of the person who has studied intensely the combinations available using only lines.

In the West, calligraphy was intended to suppress individuality and produce a uniform style.

Japanese calligraphy (sho in Japanese) attempts to bring words to life, and endow them with character. Styles are highly individualistic, differing from person to person.

Japanese calligraphy presents a problem for westerners trying to understand it; the work is completed in a matter of seconds so the uninitiated cannot really appreciate the degree of difficulty involved.

However, bear in mind that the characters must be written only once. There is no altering, touching up, or adding to them afterwards.

So now let us see what distinguishes good calligraphy from bad?


This document was last updated 22 July 2019


© 2019 Graham G Hawker
Privacy Policy