Our student had a Japanese traditional experience at our school. This is the calligraphy practice.

All Japanese pupils aged 5-6 start lerning this particular writing at school. Some do it privately earlier at home, or by attending a calligraphy learning school.

This writing system requires people to use right hand, so the left handed people usually struggle to get used to write compared with right-handed ones.

	We start learning names of the things we use. Brushes, the ink, paper, weight,   a sheet under the paper, etc. The thickness of the black ink is important, but we can easily purchase a kind of ready-made ink so that we can immediately use it without making one from the water. Basically, you dip the brush into the ink, take the extra ink out on the inkstone, and write on the paper. Beginners usually write basic lines such as straight lines and circles first, then, right ways of  virtical, horizontal, and diagonal lines.

Ways of ending each line is quite different, so we need to practice it many times. After you get used to write lines, you start learning the calligraphy with Hiragana, then, simple Kanji with Hiragana making a simple phrase and difficult Kanji. When you master ordinary writing, you can use broken styles.

Once you master this writing, it becomes the Art. The balance of each letter, partially and generally, ways of ending, thickness of lines, etc. are very important in the point of the art. If you become a high level calligraphy writer, you also give your feeling to each letter. Sometimes it is just a single Kanji to express it.

However, our students have limited time to do this, so the teacher explain how to use the stationaries and to move the body with a brush, and to write some words. They listen and practice for a while, and try to finish with the best for their experience.

This is what our student thought about it;

“I believe that calligraphy is a beautiful art and I am grateful to have seen some of it with your school. The deeper understanding of this art has given me more appreciation to it. 

The teacher was patient and knowledgeable. She always made sure I had the correct information and resources to do the best practice I could. She also made it a lot of fun!”