April 2026 calligraphy "homework"

The "homework" pieces that I submitted for April 2026.

Hanshi kanji 半紙漢字: 水入北湖去

 Single character 一字: 義

 

Hansetsu kanji 半切漢字: 外發英華

 
Unsubmitted pieces:  

March 2026 calligraphy "homework"

 

A new round... one down

After more than 200 pieces, I finally selected the piece for submission to this year's Mainichi Shodo Exhibition 毎日書道展, sparking off the first submission for this year's round of exhibition submissions.

 

Some candidates which were not submitted:

 

Now to work on the piece(s) for Sankei International "Sho" Exhibition 産経国際書展.

March 2026 calligraphy "homework"

The "homework" pieces that I submitted for March 2026.

Hanshi kanji 半紙漢字: 陶然共忘機

 
Single character 一字: 試

 
Hansetsu kanji 半切漢字: 放情宇宙之外 息足懐抱之中

 
Unsubmitted pieces:  

 

February 2026 calligraphy "homework"

15 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011

15 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and its resulting tsunami struck Japan on 11 March 2011.

I still cannot forget watching the news that day.

 

I still cannot forget the experience of living in Tokyo for a year after the earthquake, with the frequent aftershocks and an entire nation dealing with the aftermath. And how the movie Suzume strikes such a chord in my heart. 

Violets blooming again

 

「また、この花が咲く季節になったんだな」
"It is again the season when this flower blooms"

 

My violets are really blooming early this year.

February 2026 calligraphy "homework"

The "homework" pieces that I submitted for February 2026.

Hanshi kanji 半紙漢字: 我醉君復樂

 
Single character 一字: 憩

 
Hansetsu kanji 半切漢字: 羅江春信盆梅報 紙帳宵寒鶴夢知

 

Unsubmitted pieces:  

 

January 2026 calligraphy "homework"

 

Welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse

Happy Chinese New Year! 新年快乐！ Today marks the first day of the Year of the Fire Horse, or 丙午, and what better way to celebrate than to post some stuff written for this day!

 

The couplets for this year reads

蛇行福起

馬到功成 

 

I also wrote the characters for 馬、福、吉、祥 and used GIMP to give them a red background.

 

 

The originals: 

 

 

Once again, happy Chinese New Year! 

 

Watching The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie (劇場版「僕の心のヤバイやつ」)

I really liked the anime adaptation of The Dangers in My Heart, and when they announced a movie, I was very excited. Somehow, I overlooked the part about it being mainly a compilation film, rather than a proper sequel.

 

However, even though 95% of the film was mostly from the TV series, it was very nicely compiled to show the story of the relationship between the two main characters, and Ushio Kensuke's music really added a lot of emotional impact. Just the amazing soundtrack itself was worth watching this movie in a theatre.

 

Movie-goers were even given this small booklet with a short story drawn by the original manga author.

 

I really hope they will make a sequel to this series because the story is really a nice, heartwarming one. I could read the manga. But I want the music by Ushio Kensuke!

Watching It Will Soon Be Time to Say Goodbye (ほどなく、お別れです)

Many years ago, I watched a movie called Departures (おくりびと) that really moved me. It was a movie about encoffinment, so when I saw a new movie on a related topic, I was interested to see how it differs.

 

It Will Soon Be Time to Say Goodbye (ほどなく、お別れです) is a movie about a funeral house. The male lead is not just a funeral director, but is trained in encoffinment. The encoffinment part, though, was only briefly touched on in this movie, unlike the 2008 movie. There was also a fantastic element in this movie, with the female lead being able to see dead people.

 

Frankly, when I saw the fantastic element early in the movie, I thought it would not be to my taste. And there was nothing really exceptional about the movie, with it being composed of a few short stories about each dead person, brought out by the funeral house's staff as they prepared and organized the funerals. But somehow, the movie brought tears to my eyes. I don't know why, but I ending up crying. I think it was the acting of the two leads, plus the melancholic soundtrack. I also think I won't have cried if I didn't watch it in a theatre. Watching it in a theatre allowed me to focus on the movie fully, and fully absorb the acting and music. It reminded me that, in this age when many movies are made for streaming, there are still movies that are best enjoyed in a movie theatre.

Real "Violet Snow"

"Violet Snow" was a song used for the trailer of Violet Evergarden series.

 

And I guess it is real.

 

It snowed today, and the snow covered an early blooming violet. 

Noble, faithful, pure as the driven snow, a fragile beauty.

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

Post on Sumire Philharmonic Orchestra's Violet Evergarden (unofficial) orchestra concert

 

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)
Laura and the Auto-Memories Doll (unofficial translation of ローラと自動手記人形)

Flowers and the Auto-Memories Doll (unofficial translation of 花と自動手記人形) 

 

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

Audio commentary notes for TV series

 

Violet Evergarden TV anime series

 

All posts related to Violet Evergarden.

 

 

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Snow day

It doesn't snow often in Yokohama, and even if it does, the snow doesn't accumulate.

 

But not today.

 

I could even make a pair of small snowmen.

 

And there was even a tiny icicle.

 

And Vivi got a nice layer of snow.

And the violet that bloomed early discovered that spring is not here yet.

 

January 2026 miscellaneous calligraphy pieces

These are some other calligraphy pieces that I wrote in January 2026. 

 

I hope that I can one day write something for the Singapore navy. I don't know if it would be nicer to have a vertical or a horizontal version, so I tried writing both.

 

Otherwise, January was mostly spent preparing for the exhibition deadlines in April, May, and maybe in June.

 

 
December 2025 miscellaneous calligraphy pieces

January 2026 calligraphy "homework"

The "homework" pieces that I submitted for January 2026.

Hanshi kanji 半紙漢字: 長歌吟松風

 
Single character 一字: 算

 
Hansetsu kanji 半切漢字: 氷花看晩浄 風葉識天寒

 
Unsubmitted pieces: 

 

December 2025 calligraphy "homework"