The end of Suzume's adventure

Suzume's adventure, which started on 25 September 2023, took her to her hometown in Tohoku, reaching on the day of a full moon which turned out to be 29 September 2023. She managed to save Sota and both of them returned to this world the next morning on 30 September 2023, which means today is the final day in Suzume's adventure.

The weather wasn't really clear last night, but the full moon shown through the thin clouds. It was also the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, which meant that it was the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival too.

This was probably the moon that Suzume saw when she entered the other world to save Sota.

Past midnight, the moon was a bit whiter.

I like to think that this is the moon that they saw in the other world.

This full moon is also the last supermoon of the year. If this was intention, the director Shinkai Makoto really did a lot of work for the setting.

 

While Suzume's adventure may have ended today, the movie is back in cinemas in Japan until 5 October 2023.

Blog posts related to Suzume no Tojimari: 

Suzume no Tojimari (すずめの戸締まり) at IMAX

Diving into Suzume no Tojimari

"Director's retake" of Suzume

Suzume no Tojimari all-Japan stage greeting

Director Shinkai Makoto in person at Dolby Cinema screening of Suzume no Tojimari

Suzume stage event with director Shinkai Makoto

Final screening of Suzume in Japan with live broadcast of stage event

Suzume—Tamaki’s Story (unofficial translation of 小説すずめの戸締まり～環さんのものがたり～)

Suzume—Serizawa’s Story (unofficial translation of 小説すずめの戸締まり～芹澤のものがたり～)

 

Watching The Silent Service on opening day

The Silent Service (沈黙の艦隊) live adaptation movie opened in Japanese theatres today, and having watched the anime in the past, plus flipped through a few pages of the manga, I was really excited to see how they would portray the U.S. in this story (which didn't put the U.S. in a very flattering light...) Especially because the JMSDF, which is very close to the US Navy, was cooperating in the filming of the movie.

The theatre was more packed than I expected. It was the first show of the day, at its largest screen, and the place was more or less full! This is very much in contrast to when I watched Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kōjō recently.

The movie itself was slightly less than 2 hours (I think around 115 minutes) but it was really exciting throughout the entire movie. There was dialogue and action, and even the dialogue was well paced to make sure that it didn't become too lengthy. A lot of the action had to be done by computer graphics (since it took place underwater and involved submarines) but the quality was really good.

Right at the start of the movie, there was an implosion, which, given the recency of the Titan submersible incident, many would understand what it is about. This was followed by almost two hours of action, explosions, political talk, followed by more action, explosions, and there was really no time to take your eyes off the screen. I was truly glad I finished my popcorn at the start of the movie.

As for the story, it adapted until the part when Seabat/Yamato was about to head towards the first country it wants to seek an alliance with. I did notice some changes to the story. For example, Hayami, the XO of Tatsunami has been changed to a female officer, and there were a few original characters added to the story to provide a different backstory for Kaieda and Fukamachi. This new backstory was probably added to bring in more actors for the movie and maybe some other plot lines in sequels, but at least it didn't get in the way of the main story. Having female crew in a JMSDF submarine, though, was an interesting take, since this story was written back in a time when women were not allowed to serve onboard combatants in the JMSDF, much less say a submarine. Today, though, women are allowed to serve onboard JMSDF submarines (a very recent development) so it is not really that bad an idea to have a female XO.

International politics and U.S. arrogance was one aspect of the original manga and anime adaptation, and I was surprised that they kept this element. Okay, this is a key part of the story, but given Japan's relationship with the U.S., I would have thought they would have somehow changed the story to not make the U.S. look like baddies. Well, I think they managed to at least tone it down a bit, keeping this element without destroying one of the key elements of the story. The U.S. is still portrayed as a superpower that, to protect its own interest, is willing to act on its own without consulting its allies, no matter how close that relationship may be. The US Navy is competent but arrogant, and that arrogance led to its downfall in encounters with the Seabat/Yamato.

Given the point where the movie ended, there is probably a chance for sequels, depending on the movie's performance at the box office and streaming platforms. I am looking forward to Amazon announcing the sequel!

Official movie website in Japanese

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, or 中秋, which falls on the 15th day of the 8th month (八月十五 or 8月15日) of the Chinese (lunar) calendar.

I also tried writing in a more cursive style, but I don't think I fully expressed the cultural meaning of this day in this.

 

Trivia: Today (29 September 2023) is also the setting for the end of Suzume's journey in the movie Suzume.

 

Processed paper for calligraphy practice

For calligraphy, you need a calligraphy brush, paper, ink, and an ink stone if you are not using liquid ink. Ink stones can last a long, long time and would not count as consumables. Calligraphy brushes can also last quite a while if you take care of them; there are people who use good brushes for decades. A stick of solid ink can last quite a while too, although liquid ink tends to be used up a bit faster. And unless you are writing with water instead of ink, paper tends to be used up the fastest.

Paper is needed for drafting works. Paper is needed for practice. Paper is needed to write final pieces of works. Paper is also not really cheap. I am therefore always looking for cheap paper that can be used for practice so that I do not have to practise using the more costly paper that I have.

So when I see cheap paper on auction sites and such, and they look decent enough for practice (paper that is REALLY cheap can be worthless even for practice because they absorb ink in different ways than good calligraphy paper), I try to get my hands on them. I pay prices that I would pay for practice paper (or cheaper) because my main purpose is to use them for practice.

This means that, sometimes, I end up with this.

This is a special type of paper where coloured ink was used in the production process to decorate the paper. Such paper is usually used for pieces that will be exhibited or sold. Instead, I am using it for practice... Anyway, in this post, I shall call them "Yellow Sumi" and "Pink Sumi".

I also got some coloured and plain paper printed with designs in gold.

Obviously, these types of paper are also used for final works, but I paid the price of practice paper for them, with the intention to use them for practice. One set was paper that had been sprinkled with gold flakes. In this post, I will refer to them as "Purple Gold", "Plain Gold", "Orange Gold", and "Gold Flakes".

First, Purple Gold is actually quite thick. It absorbs more ink than I am used to, making the resulting work look a bit dry if I use the brushes I usually use on normal calligraphy paper. Plain Gold, though, is basically the same paper as typical calligraphy paper, so writing on it was more or less the same as usual.

Orange Gold is more or less the same thickness as Plain Gold, so it also writes about the same as typical calligraphy paper. Gold Flakes, though, is slightly thicker, but it still writes like normal calligraphy paper (there is calligraphy paper that is slightly thicker too).

Yellow Sumi and Pink Sumi are both the same type of paper, about the same thickness as Gold Flakes (which means they are about the same thickness and normal, thicker calligraphy paper).

Oh, there is also something about writing on those types with gold on them... you end up contaminating your ink with gold powder picked up by the brush when writing. So if I am going to write something on a plain piece of paper after practising on these types of "gold processed" paper, it will be necessary to change ink and wash the brush first.

Purple Gold is also a bit too thick, so it can only be used with a brush that carries a lot of ink (goat hair ones). I will probably end up using it for drafting new pieces and a bit of initial practice. The others are similar enough to normal calligraphy paper that I can use them for practice in general.

Hopefully, there will also be a day when I get to use such paper for my final works. Although I need to figure out how to properly match the works with the paper first. 😅

Update 20 October 2023: I recently got some more processed paper. There is paper that is dyed with a blue tint "Blue Dye", with a brown tint "Brown Dye", and also with a light blue pattern "Light Blue Pattern". I also got some orange paper with gold dragons on them "Orange Gold Dragon". Here's how they look when I used them for practice. All of them felt like normal calligraphy paper and absorbed ink in more or less the same way.

Blue Dye

Brown Dye

Light Blue Pattern

The patterns on "Light Blue Patten" shows through the ink.

Orange Dragon

I actually have red paper too, but those would be used for Chinese New Year stuff.

The start of Suzume's adventure

Today is the first day of Suzume's adventure in the movie Suzume. I first got a hint about the date when I noticed the spider lilies in the movie, which then led to the moon (the adventure ended on a day with a full moon). This led me to find out the full moon in autumn when spider lilies bloom in 2023 (the year the movie is set in) and I ended up with the date 29 September 2023. Working back, I arrived at 25 September 2023. You can read more about it here "Diving into Suzume no Tojimari".

So I went out to look for spider lilies today.

 

And yes, they were indeed blooming.

The movie is back in Japanese theatres for a limited period to commemorate the Blu-ray release and coincide with the period featured in the movie.

Hopefully, the weather is good this Friday when the moon is full. 😊

Blog posts related to Suzume no Tojimari: 

Suzume no Tojimari (すずめの戸締まり) at IMAX

Diving into Suzume no Tojimari

"Director's retake" of Suzume

Suzume no Tojimari all-Japan stage greeting

Director Shinkai Makoto in person at Dolby Cinema screening of Suzume no Tojimari

Suzume stage event with director Shinkai Makoto

Final screening of Suzume in Japan with live broadcast of stage event

Suzume—Tamaki’s Story (unofficial translation of 小説すずめの戸締まり～環さんのものがたり～)

Suzume—Serizawa’s Story (unofficial translation of 小説すずめの戸締まり～芹澤のものがたり～)

Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV acquires Studio Ghibli

A bit late, but I had been wanting to write a post about this piece of news.

Nippon TV to become top shareholder of Studio Ghibli after search for successor

 

Basically, Nippon TV, one of the biggest TV broadcasters in Japan, has acquired (aka bought over) Studio Ghibli.

 

In his latest film The Boy and the Heron, director Miyazaki Hayao made it clear that his son Goro will not succeed him. Given that director Miyazaki Hayao made a film just to announce this fact to the world, I don't think Goro would ever be able to agree to take over the studio even if the studio's management had asked him to. It is like director Miyazaki Hayao saying, "Goro, you aren't fit to take over. I would rather sell the studio than let you have it."

At the same time, Nippon TV seems to be aiming to venture big into anime. It will soon be airing the anime adaptation of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (葬送のフリーレン), even going so far as to create a new anime time slot in its TV programming. Previously, anime such as That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (which was rebroadcast on the network) aired in the middle of the night, around 1 a.m. This is hardly what can be called a prime time slot. However, Frieren's first episode will be on Friday night 9 p.m.'s prime time "Kin-yo Roadshow" slot that usually shows popular movies as well as Ghibli and Detective Conan movies (and Violet Evergarden series). Following episodes will air on Friday night too, at a time slot after this prime time slot (planned timing is 11 p.m., but depending on the length of the movie being show in the Kin-yo Roadshow slot, this could be pushed back a bit). This is a significant move by the broadcaster and hints that it plans to venture big into anime from here.

If so, acquiring Studio Ghibli means it gains the rights to the past movies (which it had been rebroadcasting quite often in the Kin-yo Roadshow slot), but also an established studio that can be used to produce future anime series or movies. For example, although Frieren is being produced by Mad House, the director is not an employee of Mad House, and future seasons may well be produced with the same core staff but at another studio (including Studio Ghibli).

Well, now that Studio Ghibli is under a different management, I think it also means that we will no longer be able to see new Miyazaki Hayao works, although they may still be people trying to imitate his style. He can finally retire, knowing that the studio he painstakingly built will be in better hands than those of Goro.

Autumn equinox 秋分

Autumn equinox, or 秋分, is that day in autumn when the day is as long as the night. It is also one of the 二十四節気 24 solar terms, and so I used it for calligraphy practice.

I tried writing in a more cursive style too.

 

I also found some old rice paper (given to me by a relative) and tried using it too.

The paper is actually slightly larger than the usual 半紙 paper, which is 24.3cm by 33.4cm. It is also very thin and of uneven quality. Some sheets even had holes. So I guess I will only be using it for practice, even though it looks to be handmade paper which is quite expensive today compared to the machine-produced ones.

Suzume is back in Japanese cinemas (11th viewing) + release of Blu-ray

 

From 20 September to 5 October 2023, Suzume will be back in Japanese cinemas to coincide with the period of the events in the movie (which takes place from 25 to 30 September 2023) as well as to commemorate the Blu-ray's release on 20 September 2023.

First, the Blu-ray arrive. It comes with the UHD Blu-ray disc, another with the movie, audio commentary (by director Shinkai Makoto with assistant director Miki Yoko), the trailers, and a filmography. It also has three discs of special content that includes a visual commentary (by Hara Nanoka and Matsumura Hokuto), the making of the movie, and footage from stage events and such. There is also a booklet for the movie, a mini copy of the script, the two short stories given out to movie-goers (Tamaki's Story and Serizawa's Story), and a clear sticker.

Those who placed orders early get a stainless steel card mirror with an illustration of Daijin. Those who placed an order with Comic Wave Film receive a 32-page B5 "Making Book" that contains some addition illustrations and such from the movie's production plus additional illustrations by the production staff.

The nearby cinema is only showing Suzume at night (one screening per day) and so I made my way there after finishing work.

Viewers are given this A4 clear file. (Image source: Suzume official website)

This limited rescreening also has the audio commentary available through an app. This is the same audio commentary as the one in the Blu-ray, except the final part (during the credits) was recorded anew. The rescreening version of the movie is also slightly different, with minor changes, and in the final scene, after Suzume greeted Sota with "Okaeri", this time, Sota replied with "Tadaima". I will try to find time to go through the audio commentary again and probably write a summary.

Blog posts related to Suzume no Tojimari: 

Suzume no Tojimari (すずめの戸締まり) at IMAX

Diving into Suzume no Tojimari

"Director's retake" of Suzume

Suzume no Tojimari all-Japan stage greeting

Director Shinkai Makoto in person at Dolby Cinema screening of Suzume no Tojimari

Suzume stage event with director Shinkai Makoto

Final screening of Suzume in Japan with live broadcast of stage event

Suzume—Tamaki’s Story (unofficial translation of 小説すずめの戸締まり～環さんのものがたり～)

Suzume—Serizawa’s Story (unofficial translation of 小説すずめの戸締まり～芹澤のものがたり～)

3rd anniversary of Violet Evergarden The Movie

Time really flies. Violet Evergarden The Movie opened in Japanese theatres on 18 September 2020, and three years have gone by since then when I went to catch the movie on its first day in Japan.

Back then, to get information about the movie, I even created a Twitter (now X) account. 

This was followed by catching the movie several more times (15 times as of today, to be exact), including several events which included the voice actors and the production staff.

First cast greeting event for Violet Evergarden the Movie

Violet Evergarden the Movie: Cast greeting event to thank fans

Production staff event at screening of Violet Evergarden the Movie

I also wrote close to 100 blog posts about the series.

All posts related to Violet Evergarden.

 

And translated some short stories and a letter from author Kana Akatsuki.

Gilbert Bougainvillea and the Fleeting Dream (unofficial translation of "ギルベルト・ブーゲンビリアと儚い夢")

Violet Evergarden short stories: "Logbook entry" and "Diary entry" (unofficial translation)

The Starry Night and the Lonely Two (unofficial translation of 星降りの夜とさみしいふたり)

Diethard Bougainvillea's If (unofficial translation of ディートフリート・ブーゲンビリアIf)

The Tailor and the Auto-Memories Doll (unofficial translation of 仕立て屋と自動手記人形) 

Letter of appreciation from Violet Evergarden's author Akatsuki Kana

I also wrote an app that runs on Windows, Linux, and Android which translates to and from the Tellsis language used in the writings found in the series.

My Tellsis language translator in Flutter that runs on Windows, Linux, and Android

Plus a bit of decoding (translating?) work on some of the stuff written in the Tellsis language.

Decoding the Violet Evergarden postcard

Translating the message card from Violet Evergarden Orchestra Concert 2021

Last line of Violet's final letter to Gilbert

I even attended the Violet Evergarden Orchestra Concert 2021.

And when the Blu-ray was released, I watched the three audio commentaries and provided a summary of them.

Production staff

Voice actors

Music staff

Looking back, this was quite a handful for three years. But looking at the recent trend from KyoAni, we can expect a 10th anniversary event for the series. Given that the series celebrated its 5th anniversary earlier this year, this means we have about 4.5 years more to go!

My overall thoughts on Violet Evergarden The Movie.

Events:

First cast greeting event for Violet Evergarden the Movie

Violet Evergarden the Movie: Cast greeting event to thank fans

Production staff event at screening of Violet Evergarden the Movie

Letter of appreciation from Violet Evergarden's author Akatsuki Kana

Post on Violet Evergarden Orchestra Concert 2021

 

Translations of short stories:

Gilbert Bougainvillea and the Fleeting Dream (unofficial translation of "ギルベルト・ブーゲンビリアと儚い夢")

Violet Evergarden short stories: "Logbook entry" and "Diary entry" (unofficial translation)

The Starry Night and the Lonely Two (unofficial translation of 星降りの夜とさみしいふたり)

Diethard Bougainvillea's If (unofficial translation of ディートフリート・ブーゲンビリアIf) 

The Tailor and the Auto-Memories Doll (unofficial translation of 仕立て屋と自動手記人形)

 

Tellsis (Nunkish) translation:

Decoding the Violet Evergarden postcard

Translating the message card from Violet Evergarden Orchestra Concert 2021

Last line of Violet's final letter to Gilbert

My Tellsis language translator in Flutter that runs on Windows, Linux, and Android

My (old) Python script for translating to and from Tellsis language (Nunkish)

 

Insights on the movie:

Was Ekarte Island based on Folegandros?

Touching scenes in Violet Evergarden the Movie

Violet Evergarden the Movie is a story about guilt

Article about story consistency/inconsistency in Violet Evergarden the Movie

 

Audio commentary notes:

Production staff

Voice actors

Music staff

Violet Evergarden TV anime series

 

All posts related to Violet Evergarden.

Watching Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kōjō on opening day

Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kōjō (アリスとテレスのまぼろし工場) opened in Japan on 15 September 2023. As the second film directed by Okada Mari (who is better known for her screenplays; Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms was her first work as a director), I was really interested in catching this movie when it was first announced. I originally planned to watch it at night, but as the weather forecast showed rain during that time, I got a ticket for the morning show instead. (Note: It poured in the evening, with lightning that even caused a short blackout.)

It was one of the first shows at the local theatre this morning, and I was surprised to see so many people there. But most of them were there for the new Pretty Cure movie. Only a handful were there to catch this movie. That's really a pity because this is actually a good movie and I hope it will gather more viewers over the course of its run in the theatres.

 

The story is about some junior high school students where became stuck in time after the steelworks at their hometown exploded. To avoid creating issues when time resumes, everyone conducts regular self-checks on themselves to make sure they remain the same as when time stopped.

If Maquia is a story about the relationship between a mother and her son, there is the element of mother's relationship with her daughter in this story. You know there is the trope about "I want to become Dad's bride when I grow up"? Well, here, we have a mother who tells her daughter in no uncertain terms that, it is me that your father loves, it is me that your father will think about as he lies on his deathbed, and it is your father whom I will be thinking about on my deathbed. Typical Okada Mari "soapy" stuff. There's more too, like love triangles. People who like this part of Okada Mari will really enjoy this movie.

In terms of messaging, I think we can get a hint from the setting of the story. It is set in 1991. You know, the year when the bubble burst in Japan. I think the story is trying to tell Japanese viewers that, after the bubble burst, Japan has remained stuck in time, unable to move forward. But the rest of the world continues to move with the time, and while it may be less painful to remain stuck in time, what are you really living for in such a world? And we can only remain stuck in time so long before our world falls apart. The key is to try and find a way forward, to join the real world again. Of course, this could just be me reading too much into this story.

As a writer, Okada Mari writes great stories. However, she is still very new in this business of directing, and it shows in this movie. Some scenes were a bit longer than required, and it all adds up to make the movie seem a bit more draggy. This stands out all the more because the story is good. An average story with average directing will feel average. But a good story with average directing will make the average directing stand out. That's the only thing that I feel was a bit lacking in this movie.

Hopefully, with time and word of mouth, more people will discover this movie and its beauty.

Official website

Bear hair calligraphy brushes from Aliexpress

While looking for cheap brushes on Aliexpress, I also found several bear hair brushes and thought I would give them a try. (Note: I got these brushes from this store on Aliexpress called Sunway international trade co., LTD [affiliate link] and you can probably find the same or similar brushes by searching around the store. For convenience sake, I added affiliate links to the exact ones that I bought.)

 

1. This extra large and thick brush (carved with the name 如意熊毫 and a poem by 李白) was going for around 2,000 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link] (it is the one listed as "bear" and "L"). It comes with a hair length of 110mm, a hair diameter of 35mm, and a shaft length of 275mm. The hair feels really flexible but has that inner strength too.

The 500 yen coin (with a diameter of 26.5mm) is there for a sense of size. Its size makes it suitable for large calligraphy works, usually single characters on a large sheet of paper.

 

2. I also found this extra large brush (from 轩义堂 and carved with the words 墨客警風) going for around 1,500 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link]. It comes with a hair length of 120mm, a hair diameter of 20mm, and a shaft length of 305mm.

Again, the 500 yen coin is there for a sense of size.

 

 

Its size makes it suitable for large calligraphy works, such as up to 5 characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper.

3. Next is this set of three brushes (carved with 水墨丹青) going for less than 1,500 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link]. It comes with one large 大 (hair length 60mm, hair diameter 15mm), one medium 中 (hair length 55mm, hair diameter 14mm), and one small 小 brush (hair length 47mm, hair diameter 13mm). I have placed a 500 yen coin there for a sense of size.

All of them have the same shaft length of 240mm.

Their sizes make them suitable for writing 4 to 5 characters on small sheets 半紙 size (24.3x33.4cm) or for around 30 characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper, although I don't think I will be writing so many characters on such a large piece of paper.

4. Finally, there was this set of three brushes (湖笔 and carved with the words 熊毫長峰書畫) with longer hair than usual, which was going for around 2,100 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link]. It comes with one large "A" (hair length 95mm, hair diameter 14mm), one medium "B" (hair length 90mm, hair diameter 12mm), and one small "C" brush (hair length 85mm, hair diameter 11mm).

As usual, the 500 yen coin is there for a sense of size. The shaft lengths are 315mm, 305mm, and 300mm respectively for the large, medium, and small brushes.

With longer hair than usual, they suitable for writing up to 4 to 5 characters on small sheets 半紙 size (24.3x33.4cm) or for around 20 characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper.

Now I need to find time to give each of them a try. First, though, I need to think of what to write for these tests. 

Update 18 September 2023: I tried the big brush from Set 3. It can write smoothly and was easy to use. Not bad for its price! Here's a sample of something written with this brush.

Update 19 September 2023: I tried the small brush "C" from Set 4. With its extra long hair, it was really easy to write in a more flowing and cursive style. I was really impressed with what it can write for its price.

Update 21 September 2023: I gave the extra large brush 2 (from 轩义堂 and carved with the words 墨客警風) a try, it was quite a good brush to write with. Given that it is quite big, I found that it is best for writing a single line on a big sheet of paper, like these five characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper.

 

 

Affordable, large calligraphy brushes from China

I realised that Aliexpress sells calligraphy brushes (okay, Aliexpress sells many, many things...) and found this pair of really affordable brushes for writing larger calligraphy works.

The 500 yen coin (with a diameter of 26.5mm) is there for a sense of size.

This brush [affiliate link] (it is the "wolf hair brush" option), with light brownish hair, has a hair length of 75mm and a hair diameter of 22mm. The hair is made of weasel hair (黄鼠狼毫, which is shortened to 狼毫, but here, the 狼 is not a wolf but a weasel) mixed with sheep hair (aka 狼兼毫).

This brush [affiliate link] (it is the "Bear hair brush" option), with blackish hair, has a hair length of 75mm and a hair diameter of 22mm. The hair is made of bear hair mixed with sheep hair (aka 熊兼毫). A pity, though, that its shaft was not properly glued and when I tried to remove the cap, the shaft came off.

This is not irreparable, and I just need to use a bit of wood glue to stick it back.

 

Each brush costs less than 500 yen on Aliexpress and comes with free shipping, so it was really a great deal. Their sizes make them suitable for writing single, large characters on small sheets 半紙 size (24.3x33.4cm) or for 4 to 5 characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper.

 

All that remains is to actually try them to see if they are worth the price, or trash.

 

Update 13 September 2023: I gave the black one (bear hair) a try. It was okay. Not great, but at least it can write. 

Update 14 September 2023: The brownish one (weasel + sheep hair) was quite okay. I think it writes better than the black one (bear hair). Again, it is not an excellent brush, but it will do for simple practice. Below is something written with this brush.