Lecture Note: Modern Calligraphy Demonstration by Isa Hirano – December 7, 2010

Nibei Foundation Japan Study Club

December 7, 2010 Lecture Note

Ms. Isa Hirano

Calligrapher and Artist

Tokyo-based artist Ms. Hisa Hirano came to Los Angeles to demonstrate her modern calligraphy at Nibei Foundation Japan Study Club on December 7, 2010.

Before her demonstration, Ms. Hirano explained about Japanese calligraphy in general and her previous artworks through English translation by Meher McArthur, Japanese art specialist in Los Angeles.

Ms. Hirano is a “shoga” calligraphic painter artist.  She graduated from Tokyo Junshin Womens Junior College, the Department of Music.  She also graduated from the Tama Art University, Department of Moving Images and Performing Arts, Faculty of Art.

Shodo is“The Way of Writing.” She does the traditional “shodo” brush art using the sumi charcoal ink, but then adds her own calligraphic painting style that results a most moving and beautiful piece of dynamic art.

The goal of her works of art is to find “truth” in visual images by allowing her own consciousness to disappear to capture the essence of any scene or image; she then lets such emotions again then burn into her own consciousness to produce the final physical piece of art.

This “truth” is expressed through the calligrapher’s inner truth through the shape of Chinese “kanji” letters and “kana” phonetic letters; each character produced only through such extreme spiritual concentration.

Shodo is a the fine art of creating characters that not only have a meaning in the character itself, but becomes an art form in the way that the letters are painted onto a piece of paper.

Brief History of Shodo

This art form originated in China. Since the 9th century in the Heian Period, famous calligraphers were called the sanpitsu or “three great brushes” such as 1) Emperor Saga; 2) Kukai; and 3) Tachibana no Hayanari.

In 10th century, the great calligrapher were also called the Sanseki or “three traces” such as 1) Onono Tofu; 2) Fujuwara no Sukemasa; and 3) Fujiwara no Yukinari.

In Heian period, primarily used the phonetic kana and was primarily used in women’s writing. The “waka” (poem) compositions of the time were also quite refined and elegant.

Each letter or character takes into account the following six major aesthetic factors:  1) boldness and softness; 2) thickness of lines; 3) flow of the strokes; 4) dark and light contrast; 5) amount of sumi ink that is applied and 6) overall balance.  Each character is carefully painted with a traditional fude brush.

Ms. Hirano specializes in “daiji-sho,” or “big letter shodo.”  It takes much practice to place the brush down exactly where it needs to be placed and to quickly and instantly “get it down” on paper.  Ms. Hirano started to do this type of contemporary calligraphy demonstrations five years ago.

The five major shodo styles are: 1) ten-sho (seal script); 2) rei-sho (clerical script); 3) kai-sho (standard script); 4) gyou-sho (semi-cursive swift); and 5) sou-sho (cursive/grass script).

Ms. Hirano has demonstrated her style of shoga calligraphy at numerous venues in Japan and around the world.  She has exhibited her talents at numerous embassies in Tokyo, residences and public and private locations.

For example, Ms. Hirano had a demonstration at the Japanese Consul General’s residence in Los Angeles in December 2009.

At this occasion, she chose the character “tsuru” or crane.  The crane signifies mystery and is also an auspicious symbol of good luck. This character was placed in the waiting room of the Consul General’s residence to give the waiting visitor a “strength in heart.”  Also in the entrance of the room is an art piece with the character “hi” meaning “flame” or “fire.” This is so that one is then able to embrace the power of the flame and become energized as if one is at a festival.  The characters “ai” for “love” and “yume” for “dream” also give a spontaneous feeling of energy.

She also had the extreme privilege of showcasing her talents before former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in Tokyo.

In this time, Ms Hirano chose the characters “mu” meaning “no or none” and “kyoku” meaning “extreme poles or boundaries” combined to produce the word “mukyoku,” meaning “limitless.”

In this composition she tries to reach a state of “nothingness” to express one’s spirit without the clutter of everyday thoughts. This calligraphic art was also given an award from the Sankei newspaper.

Ms. Hirano also designed medals for four consecutive years, the 2005-2008, of FIS World Cup.  In these medals, she chose the character “tobu” which means “to jump” to give a sense of a skier being “launched” into the air.

She also designed a piece using the character “shoo” meaning “to fly” to depict the movement of a skier with his poles stretched out like wings.

Another piece used the character “arasou” meaning “to compete.”  Here we see what looks to be two skiers competing for a title.

Another example of “movement” was seen in the character “mau” or “dance.”  A circle of sorts is depicted to show limbs that follow a curve to enhance the feeling of “movements.”

Ms. Hirano has at times used the same characters, yet in different styles and colors to impart whatever “inner truth” she wished to portray.

At the Embassy of Russia in Tokyo, she chose the character “sakura” or cherry blossom. She produced a beautiful image of night and day which was inspired by the novel “Sakura Blooming Fully in the Forest.”  The profusion of blossoms gave a feeling of the strength and power of the cherry blossoms, and yet gave a most delicate feeling at the same time.

She again chose the sakura for the Embassy of Mongolia in Tokyo in 2007, but in this case, painted it in black to depict the cultural bridge between Japan and Mongolia.

Then in 2008, she painted the sakura in pink for the Embassy in Thailand in Tokyo as her goal was to incorporate the landscape in the interior of the country of Thailand.

Ms. Hirano chose to paint the sakura in black for the residence of the Japanese minister in Paris.  This was to depict the “elderly cherry blossom” and with it, to show with age comes great dignity and elegance.

At other times she chose the character “hana” or “flower.”  The one she painted red gave the feeling of a moving wind and its strength; yet, on top of this, the flower gave the essence of the delicacy and nobility of the flower.

At the Republic of Ghana’s Pavilion at Expo 2005 in Nagoya, she again chose the character for flower, but this time painted it green to signify “growth.”

For the Embassy of Australia in Tokyo, she again chose the flower character, but this time elected to paint it pink as she was inspired by the Boys Day Festival which depicted the growth and strength of boys and children.  Here she shows a flower that was rooted into solid soil, and yet comes out into the sky as it is just beginning to bloom.

At the Hotel Metropolitan in Tokyo, she did an elaborate display in an area that was often used for formal marriage ceremonies.  Here she strategically and artistically placed vertical bamboo pots in the hall of the hotel and a beautiful piece of calligraphy where the vows were to be taken to express one life to live and a marriage rooted and grounded in time.

For the Women’s Reformatory’s Coming of Age Ceremony at Haruma Gakuen in Gunma Prefecture, she chose the character “wa” or harmony.  This was in honor of women becoming adults at the age of twenty.  Part of the character has a portion that almost looks like a round circle that further embraces the feeling of “harmony.”

For the OECD, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development at the Paris Headquarters, Ms. Hirano chose the three characters for “yume” (dream), “ai” (love), and “kokoro” (heart). This was to show an increase in the understanding between Japan and the fifteen European countries.

At the final part of her lecture, Ms. Hirano graciously gave the audience a demonstration of a work in progress.  She painted the three characters for “hi” (sun), “tsuki” (moon), and “honoo” (flame).

Q & A followed:

Q:         What kind of ink to you use?

A:         I use Japanese charcoal ink mixed with gold acrylic to create a gold sparkle look in the black sumi ink.

Q:         What do the different colors signify?

A:         I use different colors to express specific feelings, emotions and cultural/historical significance.

Q:         How do you decide what character to use?

A:         I may see an image; for example, the sun.  I then get “energy” from the image and become  “inspired” to create a certain physical image.

The audience truly appreciated Ms. Hirano’s lecture and dynamic demonstration.  Some samples of her works were on display and for sale.