The ancient Chinese developed a writing system in the 14th century bc which spread to the Korean peninsula and from there to Japan in the 4th and 5th centuries ad. Before this time, there had been no form of written Japanese and kataribe (messengers) travelled around to convey important information to people orally. Both Korea and Japan adapted kanji to fit their own language and, even in China, the kanji developed over 3,000 years ago have been revised, changed and abbreviated over time.

Kanji are ideographs which convey a specific meaning, word or idea. The simplest and earliest of these were pictographs. These were pictures drawn by the Chinese of the world around them, such as the sun, moon and trees, which were gradually standardized into the kanji used today. Here are three examples of this process. ,

These are very simple examples but there are kanji to represent all aspects of language including concepts, feelings and ideas and extensive kanji dictionaries can contain as many as 40-50,000 kanji. However, the former Japanese Ministry for Education, Monbusho, in 1981 produced an approved list of 1,945 kanji for daily use known as the joyo kanji. These are the kanji needed to read texts such as newspapers thoroughly. The learning of these 1,945 kanji is spread throughout the nine years of compulsory education. In addition, there are a further 284 more unusual kanji which are used in names and Japanese parents may look even beyond these additions to find auspicious kanji when naming their children (as parents in the West might consult a naming book to find more unusual names). The rules for writing kanji are very precise and the correct order for writing each kanji is learnt and practised repeatedly at school (as in the West the rules for correctly writing the alphabet are taught at school).

Shodo was introduced to Japan with kanji from China and many styles have developed since. As in China, it is considered to be one of the fine arts in Japan and the mark of a cultured person. Shodo is written using kanji and/or kana and the main implements are the futofude (thick brush) used for the main part of the text and hosofude (thin brush) for the signature or fine writing. Sumi (Chinese ink) is made from wood or oil soot mixed with fish bone or hide glue. In some styles, such as kaisho, the characters are easily recognizable but in others such as sosho {grass writing) the characters are often abbreviated or linked to each other in a rounded and flowing style. A post-war avant garde development has produced styles which are totally abstract and bring calligraphy close to the principles of modern art.

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