About Sho (書)
Sho is the writing style that the birth of kana characters in Japan has uniquely developed.
Initially, Japan had no characters.
Eventually, when Kanji (Chinese characters) were transmitted from China, “Manyo Kana,” which was written and assigned one character to one sound, was devised in Japan.
Along with the introduction of Buddhism into Japan, Hand-copying sutra was performed actively, and Chinese books such as Ougishi were set as examples.
In the middle of the Heian period, a uniquely Japanese style, “Wa Yo,” was born.
Manyo Kana has been organized, and Katakana and Hiragana have been completed.
In the Kamakura period, Zen monks from China introduced their calligraphy of those days to Japan.
In the Edo period, the “Kara Yo” style, which was mainly written in that period in China, became popular among literary writers and in Japan.
Also, the Japanese “Wa Yo” style, the “Oie Ryu” style, was used for ancient documents such as the Edo Shogunate and the Imperial Court and was also taught at Terakoya and familiar with people in general.
In the Meiji period, the “Kara Yo” style was adopted for documents and school education of those days, and the “Oie Ryu” style declined.
Recently, many free and unique styles of “Sho” (Japanese calligraphy) have been produced.
“Wa Yo” style means things in Japanese style and is used for, in contrast, “Kara Yo” style, which means Chinese style.
Writing type of Sho (楷書・行書・草書)
There are various types of Sho (Japanese calligraphy), but there are mainly three types: Kaisho, Gyosho, and Sosho.
Kaisho (楷書)
Kaisho is a typeface that writes strokes correctly. Currently, the most commonly used.
Gyosho (行書)
Kaisho is a typeface that writes strokes correctly. Gyosho has some continuity and shortening compared to Kaisho.
Sosho (草書)
Sosho is a typeface that breaks down the typeface so that you can write quickly.
The above three types are used not only in Sho (Japanese calligraphy) but also in Chanoyu (tea ceremonies) and ikebana (flower arrangement) and are fundamental to the Japanese aesthetic sense.
Shodo, Japanese calligraphy
Shodo is Japanese calligraphy.
Shodo is a method of artistic handwriting of kanji and Hiragana using a brush with black ink.
“Sho” means writing, and “Do” means method and approach.
Great Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) expresses not only its beauty but also the rhythm, the nature of the ShodoKa (calligrapher), and even its emotions.
