Shodou 書道 (pronounced Shodo) means in Japanese “the way of writing” (Sho 書, writing or writing and Dou 道, which means path or way), and refers to the practice of writing kanji and kana characters with a brush and ink as a tool for personal growth, as a method of expression and even meditation. It is important to note that in Japan there is another specific word to designate what is literally translated as “Japanese calligraphy” and it is Shuuji 習字 (Shuu 習 is to learn and Ji 字 is letter or character), that is, “learn the letter”, or what is the same, learn the correct form of the established form that determines how the character should be written according to the calligraphic style we want to use. I am interested in making this clarification as to why, according to what I have researched so far, most of the time in the West the word Shodou is wrongly translated as “Japanese calligraphy”, even though it is true that this writing system is used for it. So, we can say that, to do Shodou, you must first do Shuuji. We must learn to recognize the characteristics that define each of the calligraphy styles and which tools are appropriate for it.

Of course, and although it takes a lot of practice to achieve mastery and confidence when practicing the via, we do not need to be exceptional calligraphers to be able to enjoy the tracing of a gesture, a drop falling “accidentally” on the sheet of paper or a stroke that ran out of ink. All the details are an excuse to practice the via and learn to enjoy the small details of life.

That is why Shodou, this spontaneous practice that does not require any adjustments to its strokes, is considered a "way", a "do" (like other well-known martial arts: aikido, judo, iaido), and that, due to its strong connection with a philosophy or way of life based on the absence of pride, in the search for a pure heart-mind, in feeding the soul by connecting with the present moment, leads us to live with it a pleasant path of self-knowledge.

The Japanese writing system was imported from China, where 5,000 years ago there were already pictograms representing objects for ritual use. These pictograms, which represented the elements of nature, such as “fire,” “water,” “tree,” etc., were intended for divinatory use and/or to provide the pieces where they were written with certain powers of both protection and curse.

While I will discuss Japanese styles later, I think it is necessary to comment on the reason why the Japanese people, lacking a writing system but not a language, adopted Chinese writing to make it their own. The Japanese use the same Chinese characters called kanji in Japan, which literally means “letters of the Han dynasty” but the way they are pronounced is changed, but they still maintain their semantic content.

Between the 3rd and 4th centuries, Chinese characters arrived in Japan via Korea, thanks to the popularisation of Buddhism which flourished during the Tang dynasty in China. These Buddhist monks, who travelled to China to study the teachings of Buddha through the writing of the sutras, for which they had to learn to write and read Chinese, imported this language to Japan to transmit this wisdom to both the religious and the courts. Only men could write and speak Chinese, while women were not allowed to do so, something which later led to the appearance of a new writing system, unique to Japan, called Kana, valuable information which allows us once again to understand the importance of the role of women in the creation and propagation of styles as important as they are beautiful.

These monks were not calligraphers or renowned artists, but the truth is that, over time, and with their works of calligraphy and painting, which were exercises to help and understand their Buddhist practice, they managed to attract the attention of the lay community and enrich their culture through a form of syncretism. Today, Japanese calligraphy is widely spread throughout the continents, although there are few masters who dedicate themselves professionally to it in Europe and Latin America.