August 2025 miscellaneous calligraphy pieces

These are some other calligraphy pieces that I wrote in August 2025. I didn't write a lot of other stuff because I was focusing on the exhibition pieces.
 

Just horses... because it is a character used in one of the exhibition pieces.

 

July 2025 miscellaneous calligraphy pieces

August 2025 calligraphy "homework"

The "homework" pieces that I submitted for August 2025.

Hanshi kanji 半紙漢字: 無人知所去

 
Single character 一字: 舊

 
Hansetsu kanji 半切漢字: 自然風月情無盡 如在山林楽未央

 

Unsubmitted pieces:

July 2025 calligraphy "homework"

Watching Fushigi no Kuni de Alice to: Dive in Wonderland 不思議の国でアリスと Dive in Wonderland

Fushigi no Kuni de Alice to: Dive in Wonderland (Japanese title 不思議の国でアリスと -Dive in Wonderland-) is a new (and first) anime film based on the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Opening in Japanese cinemas today, I managed to find time to watch it at the local theater.

I had thought it would do a bit better at the box office, but I was one of eight people watching that particular screening, a post-dinner show. This felt a bit sad since I found the movie itself to be quite interesting. The main character is not Alice but a university senior called Azumino Rise (voiced by Hara Nanoka). She is about to graduate and had been job hunting with no success. The story is set in modern times and depicts the challenges faced by today's youths. I thought it was quite good at weaving all these elements to give a modern spin to a classic tale.

 

Hara Nanoka's voice acting was also very remarkable for a person who is not a voice actor by trade. I guess she must have been well trained by director Shinkai Makoto when she voiced Suzume for the movie Suzume. I found the movie to be full of metaphors, and spent the first half of the movie trying to interpret all of them to try and understand what the story was hinting at. It got a bit tiring so, for the second half of the movie, I just focused on watching the story being shown to me, instead of trying to understand the story being told to me.

 

Hopefully, word will get round about her acting and the strengths of this movie (good visuals and good story) so that it can do better at the box office in the coming days.

 

Official website 

 

42nd Sankei International "Sho" Exhibition (第42回産経国際書展) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

A while ago, I submitted two works for the 42nd Sankei International "Sho" Exhibition (第42回産経国際書展) and received notification that one of them was selected for the exhibition. Today, I made my way to see my work on exhibition.

 

There is only one venue in Tokyo for the Sankei International "Sho" Exhibition and it is at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, spanning 12 exhibition halls (4 on each floor, on B1, level 1, and level 2; basically, these are all the exhibition halls at the museum except for those used by the museum for its own exhibits). Out of the 12 exhibition halls, 10 were used for the exhibition, while the remaining 2 halls were used for the "junior" section, displaying works by school students. Out of the 10 halls, works submitted by the public (from all 47 prefectures in Japan, as well as those who submitted from overseas) took up about 4 halls; the remaining 6 halls displayed works by members of the Sankei Shokai Calligraphy Association.

 

Here are some of the pieces on exhibition. 

Here are some of the winning works by students.

 
I timed my visit to day because there was also a calligraphy demonstration, where the two calligraphers who received the top awards were asked to demonstrate how they go about creating their works.

 

This is my work on display in section 81 of the exhibition.

 

Last year, my work was selected for the first time for the 75th Mainichi Shodo Exhibition. This makes it the second consecutive year that my work has been selected for a national-level calligraphy exhibition. I hope to continue my submission cycle as outlined here.

Watching 雪風 YUKIKAZE

80 years ago, on 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered. Coinciding with the 80th anniversary, the movie 雪風 YUKIKAZE premiered in Japanese cinemas today.

 

The movie is a work of fiction, although it is based on actual people and events around the actual destroyer Yukikaze, which survived World War Two. It may look like a war movie but it is actually a human drama story, focusing on two characters: the commanding officer and master chief of the ship. The story takes the form of recollections by a former crew member, going back to the Battle of Midway and through major battles, culminating in Yukikaze's final wartime mission of escorting the battleship Yamato. It also touched on Yukikaze's postwar role in repatriation and being transferred as war reparation.

 

The story is along the line of "remember the war so that we don't repeat the suffering again; people were told to fight and die even though the upper leadership knew they could not win", which makes it similar to other recent Japanese movies about World War Two. The visual and sound effects weren't exactly superb, and while it did feel nice watching the movie on the big screen, those who only care about the story can comfortably watch it at home on TV too. A minor detail that I didn't really like: it is a movie about World War Two, but there was only one character that died, and they held a sea funeral for ONE person. That is not really realistic, since Yukikaze had just survived a battle, and it was unlikely to have suffered only ONE fatality.

 

Still, the production committee threw in a large cast of notable actors. I guess many of them also felt it was an honour to be involved in an 80th anniversary war movie. The final message from the cast felt a bit out of place, even though the message itself was along the theme of the story. But explicitly stating the message made it feel redundant and awkward. But I do think it is commendable that people in Japan continue to believe that such stories must be told so that future generations continue to remember World War Two and not let the lessons fade away with time. 

 

Official website 

Happy 60th birthday, Singapore!

Today, Singapore celebrates its 60th National Day, marking 60 years since the island nation gained independence.

 

Happy birthday, Singapore!

 

Proud to be Singaporean! 

80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Today is marks 80 years since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Even today, there is debate about the use of the atomic bomb, but one thing is certain: war brings suffering to everyone. Even as conflicts continue in places around the world, I hope everyone will remember this very painful lesson that humanity has been learning throughout history.