The Kapio Newspress

Issue date: 10/26/09 Section: Profile

Media Credit: Sean Nakamura Arita concentrates as she writes the Chinese character for "love." She has been studying calligraphy since she was three years old.

To watch Rino Arita as she creates one of her calligraphy pieces is to witness an artistic performance, much like a dance or a piano concert. She carefully sets up her inkwell, a smooth dish the color of coal, to her right and fills it with thick black ink from a tall bottle. She spreads out a green felt piece, on top of which she places a thin piece of rice paper, which she holds in place with two decorative metal paperweights. She dips her brush in the ink, gently moving it back and forth, coating the bristles.

She lays her brush to the paper, looking thoughtful. The movements of her brush swish. Sometimes a thick line. Her eyes focus on the movements of her brush.

Arita won her first calligraphy competition at age four. Since then, she has won over 155 awards for her work.

At age 18, she won first prize in a national convention for writing a Buddhist sutra of over 2000 Chinese characters written in gold ink on dark handmade paper.

Said Linda Fujikawa, associate professor of Japanese, "Not one mistake is allowed, with each character written with the brush, not one dot or stroke out of place. [It's] perfection and mastery . . . about the size of a door."

Calligraphy, "shodo" in Japanese, translates literally as "way of writing." "It is a way, a path, to help you in your life," Fujikawa said.

Arita has been studying shodo since she was three years old. Her grandmother is a calligraphy instructor, and she said she "grew up in a calligraphy environment." She learned from her grandmother and said that she considers writing calligraphy interesting. Her younger sister also practices calligraphy.

Her favorite characters to write include "isshokenmei" (with all one's efforts), "kansha" (gratitude) and "ai" (love).

Arita appreciates a challenge: "I'm more excited when I write difficult characters," she admitted. Good calligraphy, for her, is aesthetically beautiful and filled with emotion. To draw "love," for example, she fills her heart with that feeling.

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