“Shodo” Calligraphy Workshop

In this workshop, we use a calligraphy brush pen (fude-pen) that combines brush and ink so anyone can easily experience calligraphy.  Write your name, favorite words, etc., in kanji (Chinese character), hiragana, or katakana on Japanese paper to complete the work. The instructors will explain the words and how to write them with hand-written examples. The calligraphy experience at this shodo workshop will be a precious memory.

Let’s decorate your tumbler handed out at the IROS2022 reception into an elegant Japanese art tumbler.

Replace the cover of the tumbler with a beautiful silk obi fabric, write your name in Japanese (or whatever words you like) on Japanese paper, and make a beautiful one-of-a-kind tumbler.  Each registrant should bring her/his own tumbler.  A tumbler is available in the workshop room for an accompanying person.

Let’s create a beautiful work of art with your feelings in the letters.

Japanese Art Tumbler

Let’s write your name and favorite words with a calligraphy brush pen (fude-pen) on a postcard with a beautiful traditional paper called Ocho Tsugigami motif and finish it as an art frame.

To write your name or words as art, please consult the instructors for the characters you want to write. The frame that holds your art is light and easy to carry around. Even after IROS2022 is over, please decorate your home with memories of Japan and Kyoto. You don’t need to bring anything.

Japanese Calligraphy Art frames

What is Shodo

Japanese Calligraphy is called “Shodo” in Japanese. “Sho” means writing, and “do” means the way.  Writing is a daily activity, while calligraphy is an activity that elevates writing to an art.

Using washi paper, fude -brushes, and sumi-ink, we create works of art by reflecting the feelings of the person who writes, with the delicate touch of the brush, the gradation of the ink, the contrast between black and white, and the beauty of the blank white spaces.  It is also a perfect activity for mental concentration or mindfulness practice.

We present the “Shodo” Calligraphy Workshop for IROS2022 participants to share this aesthetic art!

The Instructors’ Works

Calligraphy work by Itsuyo Fukuda

Calligraphy work by Reishu Tadokoro