Japanese CALLIGRAPHY Lesson
In Kyoto, we were lucky enough to experience a private Japanese calligraphy class! It was absolutely amazing! I loved it from the moment it started; I wish it would have lasted forever!
Our sensei’s name is Chikako. She is a third generation calligrapher and she is famous! She does many exhibitions all over Japan. She was wearing a kimono and she had a comforting smile on her face every second of our time with her. She was always quiet and calm; she never raised her voice or rushed.
Chickako explained that there are thousands of different characters in Japanese. While we only have to learn 26 letters in English, in Japanese students learn hundreds of characters in elementary and middle school, and eventually learn and memorize thousands more characters by high school. Since Chikako is a calligrapher, she knows about 4,000 different characters PLUS the English alphabet. That's INCREDIBLE. I could never do that.
Chikako taught us how to properly hold and use the brush. She told us that we do not hold the brush like a pencil, it stands straight up in your hand at all times. You lock your wrist, and you move your body instead of your wrist. We prepared our ink and then started to practice.
First we learned how to do common strokes that are found in many of the characters, such as straight lines, diagonal lines, and circles. After we learned the basic strokes, we had a chance to write real words. We first wrote the character for “person,” which is only two brush strokes but it consists of the two most difficult strokes to write – the “banana” and “dinosaur” strokes!
Then we learned how to write “Kyoto.” It was even tricker because it has multiple strokes, not just one. But I think I did well! It was also helpful to learn what that character meant because we start noticing it more and more around Kyoto, on buses, trains, signs, etc.
For our final practice, we choose a character that represents a word. I chose “happiness" because I want to remember this trip and all of the happy memories I will have for the rest of my life! Mom chose “dream,” Dad chose “light,” Harper chose “calligraphy,” and Reese chose “rainbow.” Mine was difficult to write, but I was really happy with how it turned out.
This was one of my favorite activities we have done on our entire trip! I thought that practicing calligraphy was very calming and such a peaceful activity. Now the ONLY thing on my birthday wishlist is a Japanese calligraphy set!
