Outstanding calligraphy by junior- and senior-high students on this year’s zodiac animal, the Horse, is on view through the end of this month in the Mainichi Shodokai show window on the first floor of the Palaceside Building. The Mainichi Newspapers “Kokoro no Sho” editorial team invited entries on the theme “Let’s Write the Zodiac Character,” and 50 prizewinning works are displayed.
Some 675 pieces arrived from across the country (526 elementary, 137 junior-high, 12 preschool). They were judged by supervising committee members Taisho Akahira (honorary member of the Mainichi Calligraphy Exhibition), Soseki Takahashi (jury member), and Kenshi Maruo (same).
The works on view are richly varied—characters for “uma” in kanji, hiragana, and katakana, as well as pictograph-like pieces. The commentary noted: “Works that took hints from pictographs, and pieces in hiragana and in regular, running, and cursive kanji scripts, all showed heart. Pieces written with lively brushwork and vivid presence were selected for awards.” Works by the three supervising committee members are also on view.