shodo activity

Yesterday, shodo activity was held at 16:15. Ms. Ulrike Walter, Ms. Andrea Jochum, Ms. Louisa Waldforst and Ms. Isabella Jud joined the activity. First, they learned the three basic features of Japanese characters: "Tome (stop)", "Hane (bend), "Harai (curve)". They were eager to learn how to write Japanese kanji.


Next, they wrote characters they liked. Isabella wrote " 閃き"/Hirameki (flash) . It's a difficult kanji, isn't it? I asked her which part is difficult to write, and she answerd "Tome" and "the balance of the kanji". How about the other girls? Ms. Louisa Waldforst wrote "強い"/Tsuyoi (strong) . This is also a difficult kanji. Ms. Andrea said to me that she liked "水”/Mizu (water) the most among these kanji, "空", "火", "土", and "水". Ms. Ulrike Walter wrote "花"/Hana (flower). She learned shodo for a year so she was a good caligrapher. I should be a better one as a Japanese!
All of them wrote own characters very well, so the teacher of shodo was surprised.

When I asked for impressions, they said, " To write a kanji is difficult but we enjoyed it!" I was happy because they had a good time. I think this was a good oportunity to get to know Japanese culture and enjoy it for foreighners. I hope they know more about it.