Japanese New Year Tradition: Kakizome (First Calligraphy of The Year)
This event most frequently occurs on January 2nd. It is also sometimes referred to as kissho, shihitsu, or hatsusuzuri. It is considered a learning opportunity for Japanese youth, meant to urge the young population of Japan to begin practicing and learning how to properly write Japanese calligraphy.
Japanese calligraphy is an incredibly important tradition in Japan, and the most masterful can even turn it into a career. Many Japanese highschool students are assigned kakizome as their winter break homework – they are often given specific kanji characters to write out on the New Year. Kakizome is usually performed using ink rubbed in the first water drawn from the nearest well on New Year’s Day. People typically used to write out Chinese poetry with the calligraphy brush, often poetry that contains positive imagery and diction such as that about long life, youth, success, or happiness. However, in recent years, people have simply begun to choose specific but meaningful kanji characters to write out, instead of writing out entire poems. The calligraphy is seldom kept, as it is usually burned afterwards.