Eric's Seminar Special Lecture with Shodo, the Japanese calligraphy, Mr.Kamari Maeda

When I was in high school, I had a Shodo homework during summer vacation. It was too much trouble, so I had someone else write it for me and turned it in, only to be almost flunked out. I have such bitter memories of c Shodo. As I grew up, I got to know many Japanese calligraphers, but to be honest, I didn't know whether they were good or not, and I didn't understand what was so great about them at all. One day, I came across a piece of Shodo that shook my soul. When I encountered this Shodo's work, I realized that Shodo is definitely an art form just like music or painting. I was overwhelmed by the power of Shodo to transcend the framework of letters and appeal directly to my soul, and I became fascinated with the world of calligraphy. This calligrapher is Mr. Kamari Maeda ("Maeda Calligrapher"), who gave a lecture at the Eric Seminar this time.

Mr.Maeda began his talk with the phrase "Ichiza Konryu." which refers to the special sense of unity that is created at a tea ceremony when the host extends his or her heartfelt hospitality and the guests are filled with emotion. This time, instead of a one-step lecture, the seminar was designed with the hope that the entire seminar would feel a special sense of oneness through the Shodo.

What thoughts did our ancestor australopithecines communicate 4 million years ago? Probably, living as animals, they were not in a place where they were constantly threatened by life to communicate their feelings. In the process of evolution, they came to express love, and gestures and writing were born, and various tools for communicating feelings evolved. However, according to some statistics, 90% of people today still find it difficult to convey their feelings. Maeda Calligrapher has lived his life concerned with conveying." He says that it is important to "communicate" rather than "get across.

The origins of calligraphy, the oldest writing dates back to the Shang Dynasty, around the 14th century B.C. in the oracle bone script. The oracle bone script is an ancient Chinese form of divination that was carved on the shell of a turtle or the scapula of a cow. Since fortune-telling is rarely accurate, few skeletal scripts showing the results of fortune-telling are said to have survived. Here, Mr.Maeda calligrapher spoke an important message.

"The oracle bone script is expressed through engraving. He said that calligraphy is about engraving time, as well as engraving thoughts. That is why I put my soul into my brush with the thought of engraving my brush on Japanese paper."

Why did Mr.Maeda choose to become a Japanese calligrapher? He started learning Japanese calligraphy when he was five years old. At the time, he was genuinely enjoying calligraphy. However, when he was in the sixth grade of elementary school, his parents made a shocking announcement. They had already passed away, and they were not his real parents. At that time, Mr.Maeda was truly grateful to his parents for raising him. His parents who raised him were illiterate, meaning they could not read or write, so they had a lot of hardships. She learned that her parents gave her calligraphy lessons because they did not want their children to have to endure such hardships. From that point on, he began to seriously pursue calligraphy, and he is grateful to his parents for their support. This is the root of Mr.Maeda's career as a calligrapher.

Mr.Maeda always asks himself.
Who is the person I want to convey the most?
What is the most important thing to convey?
Of course, everyone has many things they want to tell and many people they want to tell. But here, it is important to think about the most important.

At this point, I was given a pen and a small piece of colored paper and instructed to write down in one word what I wanted to convey most. I had written down what I wanted to say in bullet points before, but this was the first time for me to write one word. Various thoughts and feelings came to my mind. People I loved appeared in my mind one after another, all smiling. The word that came to my mind was "kindness. I was grateful to those who had been kind to me, regretful that I had not been kind to them, and wishing to continue to be kind and to be kind to others. How happy we would be in a world where everyone is kind to each other! We were divided into groups and shared our thoughts and feelings. It was a wonderful time. I feel that I was able to look at myself more deeply by expressing myself in one word.

We shared our thoughts and feelings, and our empathy for each other deepened even more. At the same time, I realized how happy I was to be with such friends.

While the excitement was still building, something amazing happened. Calligrapher Maeda was going to write a word for Eric's seminar. In fact, I had had a word written in my image before. That time, the word was "Rock"! He drew a powerful picture of a word that symbolizes my life. It is my treasure. It is in the laboratory of Eric's seminar, so if you want to see the real thing, please come to the laboratory. Everyone who sees it will feel the power of Rock.

On the Japanese paper waiting solemnly on the floor, Mr.Maeda ran his brush naturally as if he had become one with the paper and the brush. I felt as if we were sharing a miraculous moment. The word Maeda wrote was "challenge. Eric's Seminar, and myself, act as if it is worthwhile to keep challenging ourselves. Frankly, I was sincerely moved and at the same time overflowing with gratitude for the way the calligrapher Maeda faced Eric's Seminar." When the "challenge" was drawn, it was a miraculous moment.

Finally, Ms. Iwashimizu, a Eric seminar student, gave a presentation on how he has been dealing with calligraphy. In his second year of high school, Ms.Iwashimizu won the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, or the honor of being the best in Japan, in the field of calligraphy called Kai-sho (standard style). From the time he was in elementary school, Ms. Iwashimizu was taught that calligraphy is how to faithfully reproduce his master's example. Having devoted himself to the principle of modeling for many years, Ms. Iwashimizu had a fear of writing calligraphy without a model. The Maeda calligrapher said, "Calligraphy is something to be engraved. It is important to redefine the act of conveying one's thoughts. It is difficult to convey one's feelings, but it is not only technique or passion that is necessary. What is important is to have your own way of expressing yourself. In order to convey one's thoughts and feelings, one has to think about how to confront one's comfort zone and how to get out of it. To do this, you should start by being open about your weaknesses, keep your antennae open for all kinds of information, and belong to a community where you can interact with others who share your interests. By staying interested there and continuing to take on challenges, you will be able to grow in a self-sustaining way.
This will lead to self-sustained growth. Ms. Iwashimizu shared this story and said he would like to pursue his own expression. I want to express myself in a world where there are no role models. I could see the confidence in Mr. Iwashimizu's face. After returning home, he contacted us to say that he had tried writing without a model, and there it was, a calligraphic work that had been expressed in an expansive manner. This must have been a turning point in Ms. Iwashimizu's life.

Once again, the Eric seminar students and myself learned many things from Mr. Maeda's lecture. The most important thing is to clarify who you want to communicate with and what you want to convey, and to have your own way of expression without being influenced by other people's opinions. The obvious things are the most difficult. However, I felt that it is necessary for the future to build relationships with people who always have something and someone they want to convey.

Peace out,

Eric