| architecture |
| calligraphy |
| ceramics |
| clothing |
| comics |
| gardens |
| lacquerwork |
| literature |
| movies |
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| painting |
| poetry |
| sculpture |
| tea ceremony |
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| the site |
context: calligraphy
Importance
Calligraphy has been seen, in Japan, as the highest and greatest of arts, and the form that most directly reveals the soul of the artist. Its aesthetics spill over into other areas too: most centrally, painting is primarily judged on calligraphic criteria - quality and rhythms of the linework, and so on. It's also almost ubiquitous. Japan has, officially, the highest literacy rate in the world; it used to be almost impossible for anyone to be taken seriously if they were not a skilled calligrapher; calligraphy is everywhere, on signs and logos and so on. It has perhaps played a more central role in Japan than elsewhere due to having three separate scripts in which to write the language. This is addressed later.