A workshop on Japanese calligraphy was the last activity planned as part of the Japan segment in the Masaryk Public Library’s program, A Cycle – Year on the Road. It took place on 29 March 2017 in Vsetín. The event was organized by INDET SAFETY SYSTEMS a.s. and it was led by experts from the Czech-Japanese Association from Prague, Mr. Václav Kučera and Mrs. Mari Vlčková, the latter of whom is Japanese and has been living in the Czech Republic for more than ten years.
The attendees were introduced to the Japanese writing system, its history and various techniques in writing. Mrs. Vlčková then demonstrated the procedure of individual strokes, which the participants could try out in the practical part of the workshop. Despite the fact that more time and training are needed to master this art, since any small mistake results in a botched attempt and one must start again, everyone was trying their best, which resulted in very neat calligraphic drawings.
At the end of the workshop the lecturer wrote the name of each attendee in the katakana alphabet, which pleased everyone.
* Fun fact: Japanese has three writing systems; hiragana for words of Japanese origin, katakana mostly for foreign words and kanji signs, which is the most complicated form and is used in a way similar to hiragana for Japanese words.
(KK, CP Dept.)
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