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context: calligraphy > origins
Imported from China
It's not clear when the first writing appeared in Japan, but it seems that the Japanese were making pottery for about 10,000 years before there was any sign of writing - the earliest date I've seen for the appearance of a Chinese character is in the Second Century AD.
It seems not to have caught on until the 6th Century, imported either directly from China or possibly via Korea, maybe by the scholar known as Danyojim who also brought Taoism, Confucianism, the calendar, medicine and much else. This is when it was taken up at court, and quickly became important in such circles. Note that at the start the Japanese were writing the Chinese language in Chinese script, and then moved on to trying to write their own language in the same script. This was problematical, for reasons noted in the next section.