Ritsumeikan Traditional Art Course: Calligraphy

My first semester here at Ritsumeikan is as good as over now, so I´ve decided to make a couple of blogposts summarizing the traditional art-classes I have been taking this semester: calligraphy and ceramics.

書道

What we basically did in our calligraphy class, was to copy the kanji that our teacher had written in preparation for us and try to make it look as much as possible like his.

You write the same kanji over and over again, either till you have used all your blank sheets, till the time is up or till you have one you are satisfied with. Either way you have choose one of the papers you have written, and turn it in to the teacher.

To be honest, this was basically the same process every single time, so even though the class was relaxing I did not really look forward to them.

For those who has little or no experience when it comes to kanji I guess this is a nice course though; you get to practice the stroke orders of the symbols properly and most of the kanji are quite basic. On the other hand, for those of you who have studied Japanese for a while; don´t expect the biggest challenges when it comes to learning new kanjis. I have to admit to you that there probably won´t be too many of them.

The kanji for Kyoto written in 3 different calligraphy styles. We could choose ourselves which style to write in.

The kanjis we used in class was 日本、夢、平和、鐵心、京都、忍耐、勇気、寿 in addition to some words in hiragana + the numbers 1-10 + 100 and 1000.

Hiragana practice! Yaay.. :-/

So to summarize this real quick:

+ Easy to relax

+ Easy credits

+ One of the cheaper traditional arts classes

+ You can learn stroke orders and basic kanji (for those without Japanese writing experience)

+ You can use the kanjis you have written to decorate you room! Not to mention that our teacher sometimes makes bigger kanji posters as well (like the ones on the picture above), and if you ask him he´ll give them to you.

- A bit repetitive

- Mostly basic kanji (for those who with Japanese writing experience)

Yuuki - courage

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below
Anette

Related blogposts

• All blogposts from Ritsumeikan
• All my blogposts about Japanese Culture Classes offered by Ritsumeikan:
  Wagashi (confectionery) (spring semester)
  Calligraphy (autumn semester
  Ceramics (autumn semester)
  Ikebana (flower arrangement) (spring semester)

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.