Column Oni (鬼) in Japanese Calligraphy: Why I Choose This Kanji
Why I stopped treating Oni as “just a villain”In Japan, Oni often appears as the one you drive away—...
japanese sumi ink
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Column Setsubun in Japanese Calligraphy: Turning “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” into a Seasonal Artwork
Why this phrase belongs on paper, not only in the air“Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” is loud when spoken...
Column Japanese Calligraphy and Toshikoshi Soba: A Quiet Year-End Ritual for Reset, Warmth, and a Clean Start
The last days of the year in Japan can feel like two worlds at once: outside, the city speeds up—lin...
Column From Year-End Jumbo Lines to Edo “Tomi-kuji”: Shodo Japanese Calligraphy and the Paper Dreams of Japan
In Japan, the year-end air has a particular kind of tension. It’s cold, clear, and full of small rit...
Column Make Toshikoshi Soba the Center of Your Tokyo New Year: A Quiet Bowl That Resets the Year
I love the moment when steam rises from a bowl of soba on a cold December night.Even in a city full ...
Column Luxury New Year in Tokyo & Kanto: Make Shodo Your Anchor Experience
If you’re visiting Tokyo (or the wider Kanto region) during the year-end and New Year season, one th...
Column Shodo Japanese Calligraphy in Winter: A Step-by-Step 10-Minute Practice with Sumi Ink
December brings a particular kind of quiet. The air is dry, daylight tilts early, and black ink look...
Column Japan’s highest publicly listed calligraphy brush price I could verify: “Shikōhin Gikō Baika” — Winter Shodo Japanese Calligraphy, tools, and value
December 13 is when winter is no longer a “season” in theory—it’s the air on your fingertips. The ro...
Column Ink, Light, and Christmas: Why a Shodo Calligraphy Set Is the Perfect Winter Gift
I picked up a brush for the first time in 1950.Since then, I have spent more than seventy years livi...
Column How Japanese Artists Turn Dining into Zen: Shodo Japanese Calligraphy, Sumi-e, and the Art of Eating
Around the world, people are discovering shodo Japanese calligraphy and sumi-e ink painting as elega...