“Shodō” or “Sho” is a creative Asian art that expresses the beauty of characters through writing. It is a kind of calligraphy. “Shodō” or “Sho” originated in China and “Kana” (the Japanese syllabary) was derived from “Kanji” (Chinese characters) in Japan, Chu nom was invented in Vietnam, and so on. In addition, many unique calligraphic styles have been established.

Characters were initially created for practical use, but the method to express them aesthetically was created with the advancement in culture. Such aesthetic characters are called Sho. Shodō is learning this aesthetic expression of characters under standardized training, beautifying life with practical use, enriching the spirit as a pastime, expressing individual beauty, training character, and inspiring warm feelings during the course of learning.

This is a work of calligraphy of “Shōju Sennen-no Midori” (Pine Trees Are Always Green One Thousand Years) by Ueda Gyokuhō. Pay attention to unchangeable beauty, like never changing green colour of pine trees, is harder than appreciating the changing things around us.