The image caption is interesting: as a right-handed person myself, it had never occurred to me that handedness would matter so much in shodō. I wonder if Western calligraphy is this way too (maybe to a lesser degree, given that stroke order isn’t as crucial)?
Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
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Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#12What was a bit disappointing to me is the author decided to gloss over the parts like getting fresh water from a well and having it purified at the temple. That's the parts I wanted more details on - it makes it interesting and more like a glance at a foreign and different culture.
Japan does really have a wells that has pure water than is drinkable
Should this read “Japan really does have wells that have pure water that is drinkable”? (Not trying to be annoying or anything, just want to understand your comment correctly :-) )
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#13This is my second year picking a theme and I picked "Revolution", many things are (probably) going to be different 360 days from now for me! Fun read, it didn't occur to me that I could simply pick foreign words that are much more adept at explaining complex concepts briefly.
I have a theme song for you: https://youtu.be/PTc52teL4dc
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#14If nothing else, the fact that many people write anything with ink and brush helps to sustain the calligraphy culture. Nowadays, to many (if not most) of them the new year kakizome ritual is the only occasion they practice brush calligraphy in an entire year.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#15If nothing else, the fact that many people write anything with ink and brush helps to sustain the calligraphy culture. Nowadays, to many (if not most) of them the new year kakizome ritual is the only occasion they practice brush calligraphy in an entire year.
This is what I find most interesting about Japanese culture. The Japanese do things for seemingly superficial reasons which can seem redundant to an outsider but the more I learn, the more I see utility in a lot of it.
They’ve seem so much come and go over the centuries they seem to just go their own way because it works for them. Almost feels like they’ve been burned enough times to know better than to just throw the baby out with the bath water.
The most efficient in the short term, certainly not always.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#16Last year even though I didn’t have a theme, I made small changes in the way I live, tried to complete my 15 book goodreads challenge, started doing sports and improve myself professionally on my free time. This year started with pretty fundamental questions in the way I live and uncertainties about my future so deciding on a theme is very difficult. I can’t answer those questions and don’t know what I really want. I…
I am in a similar boat. I guess I am fortunate, in that there are many interesting paths forward. But I don't know which to take, and there are so many uncertainties in the fundamentals.
I am leaning toward taking Patton Oswald's advice, and executing any plan now, rather than the perfect plan later. But I am getting older, so it feels like I only get a few more "pivots" in life, especially with financial stability in mind.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#17Few more fun facts: Elementary school students all write kakizome at the end of December. Within the school, each grade will write the exact same thing. They're hung in the halls for all to see. Hundreds of the exact same kakizome. Many people burn their kakizome mid-January during "Dondoyaki." The posture, attention and care taken while writing Kakizome is one of the important points. Those, and the outcome of the c…
--> 金 --> Venus --> Friday -->
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#18I just spent the new year in Japan in a temple, and the way they do it compared to my country makes much more sense. They just wait until midnight to hear the bell 108 times, go to the temple pray and then wake up to see first sunrise, instead of watching the fireworks and partying all night.
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#19"元旦开笔"[1] The first writing of the New Year. Its a small ritual performed by ancient Chinese intellectuals on the first day of the New Year. It has a history of about 1,000 years. During the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's ceremony became more grand and lengthy, including writing words of blessing with ornate Chinese brushes, symbolically turning the pages of the New Year's calendar (in the early Qing Dynasty, European missionaries participated in the improvement of the traditional Chinese calendar) [2] and drinking from a golden cup symbolizing the eternal and unbreakable borders. Ironically, one of the golden cups was stolen by French invaders during the Second Opium War [3].
[1] https://imagepphcloud.thepaper.cn/pph/image/114/965/140.jpg [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Adam_Schall_von_Bell [3] https://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMP/eMuseumPlus?se...
Re: Kakizome: Japanese way of new-years resolution
#20I just spent the new year in Japan in a temple, and the way they do it compared to my country makes much more sense. They just wait until midnight to hear the bell 108 times, go to the temple pray and then wake up to see first sunrise, instead of watching the fireworks and partying all night.
Shibuya usually has parties going all night, but it was all pushed back into clubs holding events, nothing on the streets.