Posts
All the articles I've posted.
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Bonsai (盆栽): The Kanji, the Scroll, and the Display
By K. YamaUpdated:Bonsai means 'tray planting.' What the two kanji say, how to brush them, and why a fine tree is traditionally shown in an alcove beside a hanging scroll.
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Bushidō (武士道) in Ink: The Samurai Virtues as Kanji
By K. YamaUpdated:The samurai virtues are written 義, 勇, 仁, 礼, 誠, 名誉 and 忠義. What each kanji means, where the list comes from, and the ideal of brush and sword.
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Ikebana (生け花) and the Scroll: Flowers in the Tokonoma
By K. YamaUpdated:In a Japanese alcove, flowers and a hanging scroll are chosen together. How ikebana and calligraphy share the tokonoma, and how to pair them.
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Iki (粋) in Kanji: Edo Cool, and How to Write It
By K. YamaUpdated:Iki, 粋, is Edo's understated cool. What the one kanji means (it is also read sui, 'essence'), how Kuki Shūzō defined iki, and how to brush 粋 well.
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Japanese Gardens (日本庭園), Read Like an Ink Painting
By K. YamaUpdated:Gardens and ink painting share one word, sansui, and one way of seeing. How to read a garden like a scroll, what its plaques say, and the main types.
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Kabuki (歌舞伎) and Kanteiryū: Its Lucky Lettering
By K. YamaUpdated:Kabuki has its own calligraphy: kanteiryū, fat, rounded lettering that wishes for a packed house. How to spot it, what 歌舞伎 means, and the theater behind it.
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Kintsugi (金継ぎ): The Brushwork Behind Golden Repair
By K. YamaUpdated:The gold line of kintsugi is painted with a brush along a crack no one chose. What 金継ぎ means, how the repair is done, and what it shares with calligraphy.
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Komorebi (木漏れ日): Meaning and How to Write It
By K. YamaUpdated:Komorebi, 木漏れ日, is literally 'sun leaking through trees.' What each kanji means, the spelling 木洩れ日, and how to brush the word so it looks like light.
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Matsuri (祭り) Lettering: Lanterns, Banners and 祭
By K. YamaUpdated:A Japanese festival is full of brush lettering: lanterns, shrine banners, happi coats. How to read it, what 祭 shows, and the Shinto rite behind it.
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Noh (能) and Zeami: Theater Words That Became Calligraphy
By K. YamaUpdated:'Never forget the beginner's mind' and 'what is hidden is the flower' come from Noh. Zeami's phrases on scrolls, the kanji 能, and the slow theater behind them.
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