Excerpt from the fairy tale Son of Wind-God (Kaze no Matasaburō)

Michiko Honda is a major contemporary calligrapher active in prominent Japanese calligraphic societies. The panel on display was done in the style of the cursive script gyo-sho, which purposefully imitates an untrained child’s brushstroke. The content of this artwork could be categorized as calligraphy inspired by modern Japanese poetry and fiction, i.e. the kindaishibunsho genre. Specifically, it is a calligraphic rendition of an excerpt from a story about “Matasaburo- of the Wind”, which was written in 1934 by Kenji Miyazawa and filmed in 1940 by director Ko – ji Shima. The text on the panel says: “Suddenly, a strong wind rose, the glass-panelled door of the classroom rattled from its roar, the eulalias and chestnut trees behind the school paled strangely and started to tremble, and the children in the classroom, smitten by uncertainty, finally burst into laughter and slowly began to move again. Soon Kasuke shouted: I know! This is the son of the wind Matasaburō!”