Japanese Calligraphy
Dateline: 06/16/98
One can trace
shodou’s history to China, where the master Wang Xizhi
is credited with the creation of the art. Shodou was first introduced into
Japan in the 8th century. The early Heian contemporaries Kuukai, Emperor
Saga, and courtier Tachibana no Hayanari are respectfully known as the
Sanpitsu or Three Great Brushes, and their calligraphy is considered a
true representation of Chinese calligraphy's timeless beauty.
In the 10th and 11th centuries these three were succeeded by the Sanseki (three traces): Ono no Toufuu, Fujiwara no Sukemasa, and Fujiwara no Yukinari. These three masters developed what would become the first uniquely Japanese calligraphy style, wayou (also joudaiyou). Fujiwara no Yukinari's style led to the creation of the Sesonji school, and Ono no Toufuu served as an archetype for the Shouren’in school which later became the Oie style of calligraphy. The Oie style was used for official documents in the Edo period and was the prevailing style taught in the terakoya schools of that time.
Ueno
Yasokichi started brush production in Japan at the end of the Edo period
(1603-1867). One of the many delights that await a traveler in Japan is a trip to
the stationary store. The selection of wonderful pens, pencils, ball pens,
erasers and bizarre novelties will amaze one, and a second visit to the
same store after years, or even months, will find a completely new selection
of insane and 
ingenious
writing materials. The clientele of the stationery stores is usually composed
of students and young people, but this does not explain the unusual the
stock. The real reason lines in the ancient tradition of devotion and attention
to writing material.
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