Yoko Nishina: Japanese calligraphy

西岛洋子:日本书法

The Documentary Podcast

2025-08-11

26 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Yoko Nishina likes to use black Japanese Sumi ink in her calligraphy work because of the variety of colours , from blues through to browns. Craftsmen still use traditional methods to create the ink from vegetable oil lamps with wicks made of reeds. She creates both large and small works - and is collaborating with photographer Kenro Izue for an exhibition in Osaka - as well as preparing a special exhibition for her upcoming 60th birthday, an age which is considered a "re-birth" in Japanese culture. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from In the Studio, exploring the processes of the world’s most creative people.
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单集文稿 ...

  • This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

  • So how was that, Yoko?

  • It's very physical.

  • That's the breathtaking art of Japanese calligraphy.

  • You're listening to the documentary in the studio with me, Rosa Johnston-Flint.

  • The important thing is how I can harmonise paper, ink and brush.

  • I want to take you to Japan to follow a calligrapher at the top of her game.

  • It's a craft passed down from master to apprentice,

  • involving precision but with a flourish,

  • displaying the individual calligrapher's own unique interpretation.

  • My name is Yoko Nishina.

  • I do Japanese calligraphy.

  • I write the poems in Japanese and in Chinese with a brush and sumi ink.

  • The brush has springiness and it makes you spontaneous to express richer.

  • So tell me about the project that you're working on at the moment.

  • I have the project to collaborate with the photographer Kello Izu,

  • and the title of the project is Mono no Aware.

  • And what does that mean?

  • What's the idea of that in English?

  • Mono no Aware is pathos and appreciation of the fleeting nature of beauty.