Weekly Report/ Education: Finding the 'I' in calligraphy

For many, traditional calligraphy has long been something associated only with the past. However, writing with brush and ink has recently seen something of a revival. Many schools, from elementary to high school, are promoting the art as a means of self-expression.

Fun performances in which students write huge letters with large brushes are catching on. And a manga comic set in a school calligraphy club has become a big hit.

At Niigata Konan Senior High School in Niigata, calligraphy teacher Rie Abe set her first-year class loose for their last lesson, telling them, "I'd like you to write what's on your minds right now."

Her instructions were a departure from the stylized way of writing kanji and the usual set phrases that are themes of calligraphy lessons.

"You can write either vertically or horizontally. Mixing katakana or English is OK, too," she said.

Although the students were allowed to try on as many sheets of paper as they liked, after 15 minutes several students still hadn't started.

"You put down your emotions on paper," Abe prodded.

One student reacted by writing chikusho in katakana, a swear word, while a girl used 10 sheets of paper to write words such as saiko (the greatest) and "LUCKY" in English.

She said she did not find it difficult to write. "But expressing my feelings is harder than I thought," she said.

"This is different from the sort of calligraphy class where students simply imitate standard models," Abe explained. "It's easy for students to get into it, because they can express themselves freely."

Similar approaches are being taken at other places.

At Torahime Junior High School in Torahime, Shiga Prefecture, teacher Shigetoshi Isozaki has his calligraphy class express the "the way you feel now" with a single letter or copy poems and literary excerpts.

The first step is to familiarize the students with standard ways of handling brushes. After mixing ink by rubbing a solid stick made of soot on a stone slab containing water--the students set to work with their brushes, with priority placed on personal expression.

"The nature of the brush, such as producing ink bleeds and scratchy effects, is just right for self-expression," the teacher said. "Merely imitating model examples is a waste of time. I prefer to have the students turn out the sort of characters that only they can write."

The Tokyo-based textbook publisher Kyoiku Tosho incorporated the notion of self-expression through calligraphy into the "Calligraphy I" textbook whose use in senior high schools started in 2007.

"Calligraphy is generally thought of as being somehow remote," a Kyoiku Tosho representative said. "We wanted to dispel that feeling, to make it more accessible."

The publishing firm representative hopes to cultivate students' interest in calligraphy and familiarize them with classics and other studies, not just writing about what they like in calligraphy classes.

"If calligraphy as self-expression is spreading, it's because billboards in the street increasingly feature calligraphy. People see more calligraphy around them than they used to," said curator Akira Nagoya, an authority on the history of Japanese calligraphy at the Gotoh Museum in Tokyo. "To the young generation who are accustomed to print, calligraphy likely seems fresh and stylish with a human touch."

But Nagoya noted the need also to teach the aesthetic aspects of calligraphy by showing students masterpieces in the art. Students improve in their calligraphy only when they understand the level they should aim for, he said.

"I would like elementary and junior high school calligraphy lessons to teach superior calligraphy art," Nagoya said.

Meanwhile, calligraphy is a theme in a popular manga.

"Tomehane! Suzuri Koko Shodobu," by manga artist Katsutoshi Kawai is set in a high school calligraphy club. The series, which started in December 2006, is currently running in a weekly manga magazine.

So far, the manga have been compiled into five pocket-size books which have sold about 800,000 copies.

The manga has proven so popular that next year it will be made into an NHK drama with live actors.

The calligraphy club in the story was on the verge of extinction when a student newly returned to Japan from living overseas joined, becoming the club's only boy.

The club's goal is to win in a major high school competition dubbed "Sho no Koshien," meaning calligraphy at Koshien, likening it to the national high school baseball tournament held at the Koshien stadium.

Calligraphy seems an unlikely theme for a manga story.

Readers are nevertheless drawn by the brisk story development and lively descriptions.

The manga provided an opportunity for the young generation to turn to calligraphy.

The International High School Shodo Exhibition, organized by The Mainichi Shimbun is a major calligraphy event, with the number of participants growing each year.

The last event had 15,000 participants from 24 countries and regions. The next one will be exhibited in February at the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art.

The emphasis in calligraphy circles has lately been not only on the finished work itself but on turning the production process into something of a performance art.

An example is the calligraphy club at Kofu Nishi Senior High School in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture.

The 13 female members of the club formed a group calling themselves the Shodo Girls, shodo meaning calligraphy.

When classmates derided calligraphy as tame and unspectacular, the girls began thinking of ways to convince them otherwise.

For the school culture festival in July, they jazzed things up. As music played in the background, the girls, clad in bright-colored T-shirts, inked song lyrics with big brushes on giant sheets of paper.

"I'd be happy if this helps to get people interested in calligraphy," club vice president Shiori Nakamura said.(IHT/Asahi: October 3,2009)