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Song of the Brush Dance of the Ink Now Available in Bookstores!

Enjoy Haiku Carved in Stone

On Feb 24, we made a Takuhon Rubbing from a Haiku by Matsuo Bashō, which was carved on a stone in the Yuki Zoo Park in Kofu, for which I posted videos of the process on Facebook.

The Takuhon is now ready, and it looks beautiful!

This is the process by which calligraphy was often preserved and printed to be shared in the days before photography and printing presses, and it has a handmade antique quality of its own.

Here is the poem by Matsuo Bashō:

春もやや
景色ととのう
月と梅

haru mo yaya
keshiki totonou
tsuki to ume

One translation I found online:

the spring scenery
almost in order
the moon and ume-blossoms

I wondered if it could not be translated more another way, more faithful to the lines and retaining the 5-7-5 syllables in English. Here is my translation.

the spring is almost
a ready panorama
moon and plum flowers

Calligraphy and Concentration: Deep Focus

5/16/2022

We did a Shakyo Experience at Erinji Temple, painting the first page of six from the Heart Sutra. The original is on the left, my copy is on the right.

I experimented with a new pair of JINS MEME eyeglasses, which measures your concentration in real time by sending movements in your head and eyes, and constancy of electrical conductivity in your skin where the glasses rest on your nose.

While painting the Heart Sutra I registered 4 minutes of light focus and 20 minutes of deep focus 90 % in the Zone. What a marvelous tool for meditation.

The Art of Looking at Space (excerpt from Song of the Brush)

5/4/2022

“The Art of Looking at Space Once you recognize that space is not empty but a real entity that surrounds us like water surrounds fish, then we can begin to find ways to navigate it. The key is to develop an interest in space, to kindle your curiosity about it. How can we bring negative space into our lives in a positive way? Rather than focusing on hard and fixed objects, develop the ability to look at things on their soft edges. Appreciate art and music for how they give shape and substance to space. Become more aware of relationships and how things are joined together. Get off of your merry-go-round of activity and find some breathing space in your life. Occasionally look at the sky with the eyes of an artist and notice how it constantly changes. Develop a Taoistic appreciation for space as infinite potential. Empty your cup, and approach things and people with a beginner’s mind. Think about how your preconceptions and prejudices limit your mind and predetermine your possibilities. Open the doors of perception to help you master the art of flexible focus in your daily life. Take a second look. The sky is not empty.

“The sky is not empty
Look above to the sky so blue.
Some part light, some of darker hue;
An empty canvas it first appears
So I thought for all these years;
But so much more meets the eye--
Fluffy clouds and birds I spy;
The bright sunshine hides more.
Darkness reveals the universe’s core.
A ceiling filled with planets and stars.
Venus and Saturn, as well as Mars.
The emptiness is really full of things.
Sense of infinite potential it brings;
Western artists cannot resist the urge
To fill that space with a parting splurge;
In the East a different way is used.
Negative space is integral, not abused;
Objects give shape, substance to the space
How all things are joined, like woven lace;
The heavens above are full of change.
Many possibilities freely range;
Free your mind, a black page in a book.
Raise your eyes and take a second look.
The sky’s not so empty you will see.
A beginner’s mind is the essential key.”

—Hugh Purser”

— Song of the Brush, Dance of the Ink: The Path to Self-Discovery Through Japanese Calligraphy by William Reed

Song of the Brush Book Club

5/4/2022

I have created a Song of the Brush Book Club, which you can join for free, and learn how to deepen your reading experience alongside other readers in the community!

New ways of reading at the Creative Edge. Gain access to monthly Meetups, Resources, Back Stories, new Technologies, Notetaking, Sharing and Presenting Your Ideas, and a Community where you can share your reading experience.

https://bookclubs.com/clubs/5968254/join/8b47f0

Calligraphy fits the modern interior.

5/3/2022

Wake up Your Brain with Calligraphy

3/28/2022

Japanese Brain Scientists have found that painting Calligraphy with a small brush awakens nerves in many parts of the brain, and it has even been recommended as a preventive practice for Dementia.

Flow Theory tells us that we need the right amount of stimulation and relaxation to be in a Flow State. To apply this to what happens in Calligraphy, I created a Novelty vs Energy Matrix. Unless you are already an expert on Chinese Poetry and Calligraphy, you will certainly experience plenty of Novelty learning about it. However, that alone may at best raise you from Burnout to Reverie. It is only by actually painting Calligraphy that you engage your mind, body, and breathing in a way that raises your Energy level to experience Renewal.

If you spend time regularly in the State of Renewal or Flow, according to the Ancient Chinese you will experience perpetual youth and longevity.

Coming Soon... Song of the Brush Online

3/28/2022

I have found a way to teach this Online, using affordable materials that are readily available on Amazon. Looking forward to bringing the book alive through this online course!

Basho's haiku on the coming of Spring

2/27/2022

This is the haiku by Matsuo Basho, apparently one of his favorites, on the coming of Spring. It is the same poem on which we did a stone rubbing impression the other day in Yuki Park in Kofu, but I was inspired to paint it myself, and translate it in phrases which I feel renders it best.

The haiku reads in Japanese with the traditional 5-7-5 rhythm:

春もやや
けしきととのふ
月と梅

haru mo yaya
keshiki totonofu
tsuki to ume

A translation which is commonly found online is 5-5-7, emphasizing the meaning over the meter:

the spring scenery
almost in order
the moon and ume-blossoms

This is one way to translate it, but I prefer when possible to render it even in English while still faithful to the meaning, with a 5-7-5 syllable rhythm.

the spring is almost
a ready panorama
moon and plum flowers

I painted this on a Tanzaku Card with a composition in two lines.

Here is the same haiku poem painted on a Shkishi with a different composition in 3 lines.

Painting the 忍 in Ninja

2/25/2022

I originally did this calligraphy of 忍 (Nin) in Ninja for an article for BUDO Japan, Ninja Fans in Search of Truth, which also contained this video.

My Calligraphy for 忍 was then used on the back cover, inside jacket, and introduction for the new book by Yamada Yuji, Professor of Ninja Studies at Mie University, A Handbook of Ninjutsu Techniques.

Maintaining the 5-7-5 Rhythm in translating Haiku

2/25/2022

聞侭に
⻑閑に奈りぬと
水の音
　〜五楽(⻑谷川雪旦)

きくままに
のどかになるぬと
みずのおと

kiku mama ni
nodoka ni naranuto
mizu no oto

~Haiku written in 1863 by Hasegawa Gettan, master craftsman of woodblocks for printing Ukiyoe. Carved in a stone in the Yuki Zoo Park in Kofu, Yamanashi, where we made a takuhon rubbing from the stone carving.

The rhythm of Japanese haiku is 5-7-5 syllables. Often when they are translated into English it loses this syllabic rhythm. Granted that it is not easy to find the right words and also keep the right number of syllables, but that is where the creative imagination and word sense of the translator comes in.

Here is my translation:

only when you are
calm and listen with quiet
mind, sound of water

Calligraphy charges the atmosphere of a room

2/16/2022

These are both Calligraphy commissions I did and dedicated to our Iaido Dojo. Both the scroll and the folding fan represent principles of the Founder of Mugairyu Aikido, 350 years ago. They come to life and charge the atmosphere of the Dojo. Calligraphy has this effect equally on a traditional Japanese space as it does on a modern interior.

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William Reed

I first came to Japan in 1972 in college as an exchange student attending Waseda University. This began my now 50 year journey exploring and mastering Japanese language, as well as Calligraphy, Aikido, and Iaido The combination led me to discover the wonderful connections found in the Mastery of Sword and Letters. One landmark in this journey is the publication of Song of the Brush Dance of the Ink (Morgan James Publishing, 2022). As a service to readers I created this website and blog, so that you may join me as I continue my journey, as well as how to gain the most from reading the book. The blog will be a journal of new insights and applications, which I will organize into categories for easy navigation.

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