Today was possibly one of the most fun culture excursions Ive gone on so far. We were invited up to Shoin to take a 2 hour class about the art of Calligraphy. We were taught by one of the most skillful professors in all of Shoin. He began by first giving a brief history of Calligraphy, telling us how it originated in China and therefore the best ink, brushes, and paper are all from China. Nowadays the truly great ink stones can be as expensive as a house!!! Takai des ne!!
Next he talked about the different tools that calligraphers use. The different brushes which are usually made from animal hairs. Soft brushes are from sheep and harder brushes are from horses. He even told us about how brushes can be made from human hair! Not just any hair though...only hair from a newborn child. The importance lies in the tips of the hair. When a child is born he or she will have newly grown hair, after the child gets the first hair cut is when the hair no longer has the same newly grown tips. Animals continuously shed and therefore always have the tips of newly grown hair. It is apparently a custom to have the hair from the first hair cut saved to make a commemorative and special brush made. Our Sensei has 3 children and has made brushes for each of them :)
He truly was a master of the art. Every stroke was performed with purpose and strength. It was magnificent really. He wrote the word for falcon for us today. (隼) He was really fast too!! It was amazing to watch a master at work. 
Next we were all given an opportunity to write! This was a lot of fun. They prepared 2
stations and put us all to work. We all chose our favorite kanji. Can you take a guess at what I wrote? haha just take a look at the picture at the bottom of the blog..yeah I know I need some practice haha ;)I have some bad news....my partner, Misaki has fallen ill...and won't be able to be my partner anymore. Instead Shoin has found me a new partner...who I am to meet tomorrow. Hopefully Misakio and I can still keep in touch though...WIsh me luck all!
We ended the day enjoying the nice weather. We even found another little shrine. This one had a row of magnificent red gates that got shorter as it got closer to the shrine. Truly beautiful. and I got to look out my balcony as I was hanging up laundry...yeaa the dryers here are just awful...but cmon check out that sunset~New food of the day...
BLOWFISH
Thats right guys..the infamous poisonous delicacy of Japan. I have survived! haha. It was surprisingly....tough and chewy. Also there was a very strong vinegar/ ginger topping that I was not a big fan of. Other than that...it was not all that bad! :)
Also I totally had Pikachu bread haha. cmon I saw it nd just HAD to get it ^^
And thats it for today!! Oh did you guess my kanji? (Neko..meaning cat:3) Well here it is.....yea...I know I need some more practice haha
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