Outdoor Calligraphy 野外の書道教室

I’ve been having a great time helping Ninja summer camp with Ninjas in Nature since last year. This is the camp where children can be children, with discoveries and surprises. I’ve been hosting origami and calligraphy stations as one of their activities.

Day one was origami, and we made ninja stars. The tricky part was when we piece the two parts together. They were very proud and I was, too.

Day two was calligraphy. Since they are all ninjas, we practiced a character 「忍」。 The younger group worked on 「刀」。Not only the character itself, but I emphasis on the origins of each character, so we learned each of 「刀」→「刃」→「忍」. We briefly went over things like how to hold the brush, how to practice, how to write the characters.

Day three—another day of calligraphy. The character for the day was「火」—“fire”, which was one of the theme for the camp. This only has 4 strokes, but having a good balance is not an easy task. Though knowing the routine at the station, children came with the perfect curious mind, ready to tackle. They remembered how to hold the brush and how to use the ink. For challengers, I also prepared the character「炎」ー”flame”.

In the wild, unexpected is expected. The wind was a little strong on the third day and papers flew away and the inks turned over. I was glad that each ink were divided into small amounts. We picked up branches and stones to hold them down. These arrangement added extra creativity because we were out in the nature.

The given were 4 papers—2 each for practice drawing paper and artwork rice paper. The seal was placed to tell that the work is done.

With their amazing concentration, observation and assertive determination, every final work came out perfectly.

As I look at the works of children’ writing streaming in the wind, my heart was overwhelmed with joy and I was so humbled and proud of them.

“Thank you.” “I want to do it again.” “So sad this is over.” were what I got from children after the workshop. I felt exactly the same and returned the same feeling to them.

I am looking forward to the next year summer camp. At the same time, I am having fun for my new monthly calligraphy class at dojō.

去年からお手伝いさせて頂いている夏の忍者キャンプ。山の中でのびのびと子供達が遊びながら学べる素晴らしいキャンプです。その中で書と折り紙のステーションを担当させて頂きました。折り紙は手裏剣を。必死で殆ど写真が残ってない。唯一大きい子クラスで２個目を作る際、忍者と侍柄の折り紙を配った時の、みんなの眼がキラリ。

２日目はやはり忍者さんですから、「忍」という字を学んでもらうことにしました。小さい子クラスは「刀」を。でも私は字源を知ってもらうことにも重きを置いているので、「刀」→「刃」→「忍」の漢字の意味も皆さんに説明。筆の持ち方や、字のポイント、練習の仕方などを簡単に伝える。

３日目はキャンプでも学びのテーマになっていた「火」。字画が少ない割にバランスが取りにくいので、簡単とは言えない字ですが、この日の書は2回目ともあり、みんな流れは把握しているので席に着くなり「今日は何書くの？」と気持ちも乗ってる。前の日に触れた筆の持ち方や墨のつけ方も、みんなしっかり覚えている。チャレンジャーの忍者達には「炎」も用意して意味を説明。