Saving `woman hand`: the artist rescuing female-only writing
(The Guardian Japan)

Kana let women express themselves freely and was used to write the world´s first novel - then it was wiped out. Meet the master calligrapher keeping the script aliveAnyone who has ever fired off a text in haste will sympathise with the first point on 11th-century Japanese writer Sei Shonagon´s list of `infuriating things`: `Thinking of one or two changes in the wording after you´ve sent off a reply to someone´s message.`This list, her messages, and her Pillow Book in which they´re recorded - a sparklingly acerbic, blog-style frolic through the lives of Heian-era aristocrats - were written using kana, a Japanese script mainly used by women for nearly a millennium to write literature, arrange secret assignations and express themselves freely within the confines of court life.Kaoru Akagawa will be giving a talk and demonstration of kana shodo at the Institute of English Studies, University of London, on 26 June, 6-7pm. Free item, tickets can be reserved here. Continue reading...