Calligraphy Demonstration and Workshop

The leading Japanese calligrapher, Ransetsu Ozawa, offered a demonstration and workshop against the backdrop of a special exhibition of her calligraphy at Daiwa Foundation Japan House. In introducing Japanese calligraphy to a British audience, her aim was ‘to demonstrate that calligraphy is an endlessly flexible medium, like painting, which can be understood by and resonate for those from an entirely different cultural background’. Ransetsu’s workshop highlighted the work of Fujiwara no Yukinari, an official of the Heian Imperial Court, considered one of the greatest calligraphers in Japanese history.

Born in 1945 in Ota City, Japan, Ransetsu Ozawa has loved Japanese brush calligraphy for almost as long as she can remember.  A speech on her relationship with calligraphy won Ransetsu the All-Japan English-Speaking Contest sponsored by a national newspaper, and an essay on the same subject led to her being crowned Cherry Blossom Princess by the Cherry Blossom Association.  After moving toTokyo, she enrolled in GakushuinUniversity where she studied English and Japanese literature.  While still a university student, she earned an official license to teach calligraphy at high school level; this was, at the time, an unprecedented achievement.  Since 1985, Ransetsu has held more than 20 exhibitions – with themes drawn from such sources as Japanese classic literature, Shakespeare and Verdi’s operas – mainly at Ginza Kyukyodo Gallery. For the past three years, she has been a tutor-in-residence teaching Japanese calligraphy at Higham Hall in the English Lake District.