In March we led two workshops introducing and exploring the esteemed calligraphic style, brush techniques and history behind the flowing kana 仮名 scripts and deep poetic themes of waka 和歌 (meaning Japanese poems). These events were held in the Glasgow area of Scotland, and were kindly sponsored by The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, allowing participants to experience the traditional methods and ideas that inform waka. The workshops took place in St. George’s Cross at the spacious and peaceful Woodside Library as well as at the historic Maryhill Burgh Halls (with North United Communities), for adults and also young people from the communities.

With the assistance of a wonderful team at both events, calligrapher Blair Thomson led the workshops. Firstly, he introduced waka poetry, and the kana calligraphy used to write it, which are little known or practiced in the United Kingdom, with material examples of waka brushed in kana by Japanese calligraphers.

Blair outlined the history of waka poetry, the structure and themes of the waka poems and anthologies, such as the Heian period imperially selected Kokin Wakashū compilation (905-914), referring to the Japanese language phonetics, and hiragana ひらがな and manyōgana 万葉仮名 systems, unravelling how calligraphers past and present have used kana dictionaries to aid their selection of kana used to brush waka.

He also talked about his experience of visiting teachers in Japan in December 2025 and January 2026, such as meeting Tokyo based Matsui Gyokusō Sensei, whose students often choose decorated papers and brush the 11th century Genji Monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji) by Murasaki Shikibu (973-1014/1025).

At the Woodside Library event for adults the participants worked with the traditional materials used, such as the brushes crafted specifically for kana. After meditatively grinding their sumi ink, and following demonstrations and guidance, they began with stroke practice and next brushing simple seasonal phrases. Then, after another demonstration by Blair, the group began copying a Heian period waka poem by Fujiwara no Kiyosuke (1104-1177), from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu 小倉百人一首 (one hundred poems by one hundred poets) collection, from an example brushed in elegant flowing lines by Matsumoto Hōsui (Shokaisha school founder, 1893-1971).

The feedback from participants was very positive with the adults enjoying the sensory feel of the materials and different papers, and what they described as a therapeutic way of brushing. Whilst the adult group worked quietly, immersed in the activity, on the other hand the group for young people at Maryhill Burgh Halls was full of energy, embracing the cultural and Japanese writing activity with the easier to handle brush pens, working on a selection of craft papers and calligraphy papers. Most young people quickly brushed bold renditions of the seasonal phrases and waka poems, with many of the students demanding more paper and surprising Blair by asking for some ‘harder’ poems to copy!

Thanks so much to everyone who took part as well as those who supported the events and helped out. Deepest thanks to The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation for making the events possible and supporting the project, which we hope helps widen an awareness and understanding of Japanese waka poetry and kana calligraphy.

At our first classes after the new year we brushed the characters manpuku 萬福, meaning many blessings (or full fortune/happiness)✨ The characters used individually are common brushed in shodō schools.

As well as being celebratory, brushed together they also have relevance in Japanese Zen (and Chinese Chan). This is seen in the temple name Manpuku-ji of renowned Zen calligrapher Ingen (founded 1663). The temple is close to Kyoto in Uji and houses many of Ingen’s striking cursive works.

After looking at the ancient visuals related to the characters (such as the scorpion with pincers), we wrote both the kaisho standard script and sōsho cursive ‘grass’ styles, as well as looked at the gyōsho semi cursive style.

Blair also discussed other types of works to celebrate お正月 Oshōgatsu, such as brushing the zodiac characters, such as his small calligraphy of 馬 uma (horse) pictured below which he showed to the groups. For the new year of the horse he brushed thirty versions of the characters 馬 and 午 on these small shikishi boards.

We had lively classes at our Saturday morning and early afternoon groups, as well as at our online Monday group, and Blair gave demonstrations for all the styles. It was rewarding to see everyone enjoying the characters, although most participants found that brushing the right balance in 萬 man in kaisho was a challenge, and then was much more flowing and faster in the sōsho cursive style.

Thanks for joining and we look forward to brushing more characters with you next time. Otsukaresama deshita, well done!

Inspired by Blair’s first calligraphy teacher Wakabayashi Shujō, at our December classes at Woodside Library we worked with an 干支 eto (Japanese zodiac) shodō calligraphy theme brushing uma 午 horse, to prepare for celebrating the new year ✨Even into his late eighties Wakabayashi Shujō worked on many such works, mostly giving them as gifts (see picture using gold sumi ink).

The groups were lively and participants enjoyed choosing from the various styles of uma to write their own eto work. They also learned about other phrases they can write on this type of piece, such as fukuju 福寿 long life and happiness, and writing their name in Japanese in harmony with the other characters.

After practicing kaisho standard script strokes, we brushed the kanji character for horse in kaisho, then cursive styles, followed by the grass style for fukuju. Blair gave demonstrations for each style and helped people with their strokes.

We then practiced on hanshi paper for the year of the horse work on small mame shikishi calligraphy board, with some participants choosing cursive styles of the character and phrases, and others opting for more ancient 甲骨文 kokōtsubun shell and bone styles.

Here is a mysterious horse themed haiku which we shared with participants after the group.

samayoeru uma
kyōshū to narite
kienu

wandering horse, 
turning into a longing 
for home, vanishes

Tomizawa Kakio

Thanks for joining and for all your support and enthusiasm this year. We look forward to brushing with you again in the new year. Otsukaresama deshita!

In November at our monthly shodō groups, at the delightful Woodside Library as well as at our online class, we brushed the Japanese characters 洗心 senshin, meaning purifying the heart or mind, (and the kanji also relating to Blair’s calligraphy training in Tokyo which he discussed briefly with the groups). We also talked a little about the visual background and pictographs in the kanji, such as the fun connection to washing and bathing in 洗 (sen/ ara.u).

These well known kanji have varied strokes and entirely different structures, with 心 (kokoro/shin) especially being a very commonly brushed and written kanji, which Blair gave demos and (just a little technical) guidance to help everybody capture the layout of the strokes, and sizes of the negative spaces between each. Blair gave examples of 心 kokoro brushed as a single character as well as placed with other kanji.

We had time for kaisho stroke practice and then worked in both the 楷書 kaisho standard script and the 草書sōsho fully cursive style, working from Blair’s otehon examples of 洗心 senshin. Then we wrote our individual rakkan signature with our names in Japanese (which Blair gave to each participant as usual to copy onto their calligraphy).

Blair gave demonstrations of all the brushwork for 洗心 senshin, and after the session shared his video of the two styles of brushwork for these kanji. Here is a bright calligraphy themed haiku for inspiration that we chose for this month, by Onitsura:

Autumn Moon

Is there anyone
Who will not take up their brush 
With this moon tonight!

Thanks so much for taking part, sharing your images of your calligraphy, and for your enthusiasm to practice shodō which has made our move to Woodside library worthwhile.

This year we enjoyed a long afternoon at the bright and leafy Woodlands Meeting Room, brushing copies of the work of shodō masters, stretching over 1200 years of inspiring examples. At this annual masterclass we worked on six characters of the Senjimon 千字文 Thousand Character Classic (different kanji characters form last year).

Whereas in our monthly one hour group we brush two different characters each month in two styles, at this longer class we worked from six kanji in three styles through the afternoon, firstly the 楷書 kaisho standard script (based on 松本 芳翠 Matsumoto Hōsui Sensei, 20th century), next the 行書 gyōsho semi cursive (文徵明 Bunchōmei, 16th century) and lastly the 草書 sōsho fully cursive style (choosing 懐素 Kaiso, 8th century).

We also looked more briefly at 王羲之 Ogishi (4th century), and for each of the kanji we studied the ancient styles (such as 甲骨文 kōkotsubun shell and bone script, also known as oracle bone script) and their fascinating visual meanings. Blair also gave guidance related to some examples of his own calligraphy practice developed through close connection with masters in Japan.

This time we worked with two types of hanshi Japanese calligraphy papers, plus shikishi gold rimmed boards, so that participants could feel the difference and understand why certain types of calligraphy papers are used for particular pieces and styles, for instance depending on the preferred ink spread and the wet/dry balance.

We also had time to develop our 落款 rakkan signature area using katakana and kanji characters, and plenty of time for demonstrations, feedback, discussion and questions. The genmaicha tea and snacks helped propel our activity through the afternoon!

The Senjimon classic is gradually becoming better known outside China and Japan, thanks partly to Kazuaki Tanahashi’s excellent English language book aimed at calligraphers. Also see our previous posts:

An Autumnal Afternoon Exploring Shodō Classics

Inspired by the examples of calligrapher Chiei

Mysterious universe calligraphy at Zen Heart Brush

We moved to our fabulous new space for our monthly Saturday shodо̄ calligraphy group, a large and bright room at Woodside Library, on a very wild and windy autumnal day, which was fitting given that one of kanji characters was 風 kaze wind itself. We are thankful for everyone’s support and enthusiasm, allowing us to run an afternoon class as well as the usual morning class.

Our characters for this month followed on from September, this time we brushed the 同風 dōfū part of the phrase Senri Dōfū 千里同風, which literally translates as ‘thousands of miles/villages, yet the same wind blows’. This is a 禅語 Zengo (‘zen language’) phrase, which Blair described the background for, looking at the meanings and visuals for each character, as well as what Senri Dо̄fū conveys, including meanings of fostering connection and community even where there are vast spaces or obstacles separating people.

We had a lot of new folks joining us so we had plenty of time for introducing the traditional materials and demonstrations of the basic strokes in the standard 楷書 kaisho style of 同風 dōfū. Then we had demonstrations of brushing both kanji together in this style as well as the fully cursive 草書 sōsho ‘grass’ style. In the sо̄sho we practiced joining the kanji with flowing 連綿 renmen continuous strokes linking characters.

At our online monthly group brushing the same kanji we also had some additional time for the 行書 gyōsho semi cursive script.

After the groups Blair shared a video with participants, of his brushwork of this month’s calligraphy.

Blair also shared a bonus autumn themed haiku poem (yes yet again by his favourite Bashō!), perhaps Bashō’s most vivid autumn haiku poem (the Heavenly River is the Milky Way):

rough sea,
stretching towards Sado Island,
and the Heavenly River

(荒海や　佐渡に横たふ　天の川   araumi ya, Sado ni yokotau, amanogawa)

Thanks for joining, as well as to the participants for sharing some images of their shodō brushwork, and we look forward to brushing more characters with you next time. Otsukaresama deshita, well done!

As the weather became more autumnal and windy, we brushed the first two characters of Senri Dōfū 千里同風 , which says – Thousands of miles, yet the same wind blows ✨ This is a Zen phrase with meanings including to do with people feeling connected to each other and understanding that they have shared experiences regardless of the distance they are apart.

For our last day at the Tibetan centre Kagyu Samye Dzong (before moving to Woodside Library) since we began our shodō class there back in 2017, we had a busy and lively group of participants. KSD has been such a delightful venue for the classes with a peaceful and community feel. The online Zen Brush group was also having an energetic vibe with some new folks joining.

At both groups we brushed the kaisho standard script and the sōsho cursive ‘grass’ styles, and at the longer online group we also brushed the gyōsho semi cursive script to explore the relationships between the styles.

Blair shared an autumnal haiku poem by the esteemed Edo period poet Bashō:

None is travelling
Here along this way but I,
This autumn evening.

For our last Japanese Shodō calligraphy classes before summer, both in person and online, we brushed the characters kiryoku 氣力, meaning – vitality or energy, or willpower ✨. Ki 氣 is the same character as qi in Chinese such as in Qigong 氣功and is a fascinating one to discover the visual background of (with visuals related to steam and rice), and brush. We worked on the traditional version 氣 rather than the standard Japanese version of the kanji character 気.

We found a balance of calm and ‘genki’ energy in the kaisho standard script and the soshо̄ fully cursive ‘grass’ style. We brushed on both hanshi Japanese paper as well as small shikishi gold rimmed calligraphy boards.

For some inspiration, Blair shared two short poetic fragments expressing something of the energetic aspect of 氣..

Energy – ki – rides the wind and scatters,
but is retained when encountering water.

Guo Po

The void has collapsed upon the earth,
Stars, burning, shoot across iron mountain.
Turning a somersault, I brush past.

Zekkai Chushin

Many thanks to everyone for taking part through spring and into summer, and to those for kindly sharing some pictures here of their calligraphy practice.

At our recent Shodō calligraphy classes at KSD Glasgow on Saturday, as well as our online Monday evening group, we found nature based inspiration, brushing 大地 daichi, meaning the great earth or vast land, a common word which also describes our relationship with the land and nature ✨

The two characters are very different from each other in the standard kaisho script, giving a feeling of the tectonic shapes and textures of the earth, but are much looser and open in the sōsho fully cursive ‘grass’ style. Blair gave demonstrations of the brush techniques for both styles, and briefly discussed the meanings and zen understandings of daichi.

We also found inspiration in the visual background of the two kanji, and in the longer online group brushed the gyōsho semi cursive style as well as explored the strokes and kanji structures in more detail.

Blair shared a short nature and ink themed poem by esteemed 11th Century Song dynasty poet Su Donpo, whose works are copied by contemporary Japanese calligraphers who brush from classics:

The black clouds are like ink but have not covered the mountains, 
while the white raindrops are like pearls and fall into the boat.

From ‘Five Poems Written While Drunkenly at Wanghu Tower No. 1’

Thanks to everyone for taking part in both classes and see you again next month!