Photographing Summer

"Big River" "Flowers"

There are about fifty identical characters lined up.

Calligraphy by elementary and junior high school students displayed at a local post office.

The calligraphy papers lined up on the wall all have the same characters, but they all seem to have different faces.

The writing changes with the seasons, and perhaps it was for a competition, as, unlike usual, there were vermilion characters here and there, including corrections.

Along with the circles and flower circles, there were words the teacher assigned to each one.

The shape and lines of the characters are wonderful, the brush strokes are firm, and the writing is refreshing. It is neatly put together and each character is carefully written.

How many things in our daily lives are we satisfied with simply being pretty or beautiful?

There must be at least some sense of how beautiful it is, and I couldn't help but stop and think about how the appearance can be completely different depending on what adjective is used to modify it.

Each person's handwriting was expressed in a way that I felt was unique to them, and it made my heart warm thinking about how happy they must be to receive such words.

I have been steadily continuing copying sutras since last year.

I'm practicing a little bit every morning to write letters that will be sent to customers who shop at Utsushiki Online, hoping to be able to convey my feelings in some way.

My goal is not just to be able to write, but also to hone my powers of observation, so I try to imitate the examples, but it's really difficult and I can't get anywhere.

Of course, sutras are full of kanji, so the characters that are written in letters don't often appear in them, but I feel that kana characters, which have fewer strokes, are the most difficult because they cannot be disguised.

All of my relatives grew up in a temple environment, and I only perceived the sutras that we listened to like spells as sounds, so I'm now studying them along with copying them.

While many familiar monks recite the same sutras, I have my favorites, like "I absolutely love this uncle's recitation of the Heart Sutra!" or "I want to hear my cousin recite the Shari Reibun!", and I enjoy the solemn nature of the memorial service in the same way I enjoy listening to my favorite music, thinking, "Ah, this tone and voice just suits me!"

Then, when I see the sign advertising the program and the posthumous Buddhist name written in calligraphy, my spine straightens up.

His paternal grandfather was a calligraphy teacher and his maternal grandfather was a Buddhist monk.

I was fascinated by the sight of people writing calligraphy with a brush as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and I always thought it was interesting how each character was different.

Whenever I see calligraphy, it seems to describe the person directly, and I am often moved by how words can move my heart so much.

At the same time, I felt that there was something special and divine about calligraphy, but I had never really applied it to myself, just looked at it.

If I had been taught, I might have been able to learn more from the characters and the attitude of my grandfathers.

I sometimes look back at the handwriting of my grandfather, written in a natural way that seems to reach his heart down to his fingertips, and at the many letters I have received that are like talismans, and I feel more and more grateful that I am able to write letters to everyone every day.

Summer clouds stand tall in the clear blue sky.

As the season progressed, the children's calligraphy changed to "open sky" and "sky full of stars."

Saori Konishi