[ryuurui]

I saw one in Ueno, when I went to see the ancient Chinese ink rubbings in the museum. Well, if he studied calligraphy anytime in his life, it must have been a long time ago. His handwriting was full of mannerisms which is typical for those who are self-educated. Line was weak and うるさい (not settled, loud), and 行気 (energy flow within the line) disturbed. I would lie if I said that I had liked it. Nonetheless, I would not be surprised if he sold works not only to the foreigners. It happens often so that even those who study calligraphy for years have little knowledge of the art (I mean the native speakers).

In Japan there is this scary trend of studying calligraphy based on tehon (手本, written example, usually in red ink) received from the teacher, whcih is probably the worst imaginable way of studying this art. This method is usually proposed by those instructors who are lazy, or simply are lacking knowkledge of the ancient scripts and history. Which again leads to them being lazy. A lot of people think that raching the level of 師範 (master/instructor) is the end of the road, whereas in fact, the road only begins there...

I remember when my teacher said (he was 71 at that time, I think) - "I finally have reached the stage, where I am ready to start in-depth studies of calligraphy". And that comes from a man who has a scholastic approach to this art for past 55 years of more. He was a calligraphy master when i was not even in my parents' plans. It is said that if you do not pick up the brush to write every day, your skill will wither. However, reading and researching is as important as writing. So, those who only write and do not learn by digging the past, are stuck in the mud of no progress forever.

For me, calligraphy is like breathing, if I stop my art dies, and so does my soul.