Seeing Calligraphy, Knowing Calligraphy I
Seeing Calligraphy, Knowing Calligraphy I
The first work displayed in this section is an example of modern poetry calligraphy by Kanashiki Shinbo. Modern poetry calligraphy is calligraphy written in both kanji and kana, harmonizing the two forms and reflecting standard contemporary writing methods. This type of calligraphy is also known as chowatai, literally harmonized script, or kanji kana majiri script. Kaneko Otei was the leading figure in the modern poetry calligraphy movement. His book Shinchowatairon states that "spoken texts, free style poetry, tanka, tansho and translated poetry" are all materials used for such calligraphy, which he heralded as a calligraphy expressive form suited to the contemporary age. This led to the birth of modern poetry calligraphy, which is thus something that readers of the same period can read, a calligraphy that conveys texts. As a result, for those who do not know kanbun, or find it hard to read kanji, or cannot read kuzushiji, many of these works are much easier to read, and this ability to find them familiar and approachable is their greatest characteristic.
Kaita falls (cat. no. 1) is probably the world's longest calligraphy work, measuring approximately 5,000 meters in overall length. This calligraphy recounts the entire poetry anthology known as Kaita no utaeru, written by the Taisho period Western-style painter Murayama Kaita before his tragic death at the age of 22. This calligraphy work took about a year to write, or approximately a month if measured in 24-hour periods. While most calligraphy works are framed or mounted as hanging scrolls for display in calligraphy exhibitions, this work in its long form takes a completely different format.
Close examination of the calligraphy reveals that he often used kuzushiji, combining two characters in flowing script. This means it is not easy to read for those not used to kuzushiji style kana calligraphy. The best approach for such viewers is to first consider the overall feel of the waterfall of paper and script, and how the flowing lines feed into that form. Even if you can only read parts of the text, careful looking will reveal sections you can read, and thus you can further deepen your enjoyment of the work and the impression it makes upon you.