Japanese calligraphy, known as Shodō (書道) — literally “the way of writing” — is an art in its own right, distinguishing itself from Chinese calligraphy through its Zen influence and its two syllabaries: hiragana and katakana.
The principle is simple: emptying the mind in order to write Japanese characters using a brush and a black ink called sumi (墨).
Although they may look similar at first glance, Japanese and Chinese characters are not necessarily written in the same way and can vary greatly depending on their evolution throughout history.
