My time in the shodou club has allowed me to truly appreciate the personal nature of a traditional Japanese art. Though technically a club, the shodou group acts more as a venue for anyone interested in practicing or learning about calligraphy to come and spend however much time he or she wants doing so. Thus, I have found my weekly visits to the shodou room to be moments of calm reflection. Because everyone is focused on their own calligraphy, the shodou room is usually fairly quiet. Practicing my calligraphy in such a setting allows me to forget about everything else and focus on the beauty of the characters themselves. Two things I have come to appreciate from this experience are both the beauty and the difficulty of writing kanji. I believe you cannot truly recognize Japanese writing as an art form until you see it through the lens of shodou, rather than as a mere tool for communication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My time in the shodou club has allowed me to truly appreciate the personal nature of a traditional Japanese ar … \u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080