Japanese Calligraphy or Shodo:
And Trivia Contest #4

Friday I had the opportunity to try my hand at Japanese calligraphy, or shodo. Don't look at Miranda napping and think it was boring; it was a fun experience! Especially since it is the Japanese way to be polite and "pump people up," so many Japanese ladies continually told me my art was really good! It is also the Japanese way to be humble and deny being any good, so I guess it was fitting when I blushed with sincerity.

Japanese calligraphy originated in China. Kanji, the pictoral symbols used in Japanese calligraphy originally developed from hieroglyphics. It is very interesting to see how some of these symbols are indeed pictoral representations of their meanings. For example, the symbol for mountain looks like a mountain. But some of the symbols look nothing like their meaning. This is because katakana and hiragana are also used in Japanese and were formed from changing kanji.

So, here's a trivia contest--that I venture to say--no one can win (the first three contests were too easy): what is the meaning of the symbol I am crafting in the photo above? The prize will be your choice: a coveted Tanuki or a supply of seasonal KitKats for a year.

Anyway, shodo is the art of writing these characters with a brush, ink and a focused mind. I'm not sure if my mind was "through the paper," as it was supposed to be. But I think I look like I'm relaxed and concentrating on this as much as a mother of two small children is able, particularly since I'm holding one of them for most of the lesson. But to attempt the symbol for "harmony," it seemed I had to unload Miranda; I don't know if I had time to quite reach "harmony," but I'll settle for a few minutes of "peace" any day.