Unpei fude is also known as kami maki fude (紙巻筆, かみまきふで), or, maki fude, literally meaning “(paper) wrapped brush”, and the construction of maki fude
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My encounters with brushes continued through college. When I landed in Boston I set up a painting studio, but a place to do ceramics was more challenging.
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Continuing the story of the Hankeido (桂堂攀, はんけいどう, Hankeidō) workshop, the construction of maki fude (巻筆, まきふで) is most unusual. The first 3rd of the root of the tuft is wrapped and strengthened with a hand-made Japanese hemp paper, also known as washi (和紙, わし). Thus, the name maki (to wrap) fude (brush). Because of…
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The name chosen by Konoe Iehiro was Hankeidou, which literally means “climbing the wisteria tree”. According to an old Chinese legend, a wisteria tree (桂) grew on the moon,
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It is my great hope that the trade of brush making will continue and thrive, and that this old and nearly forgotten tradition will find its followers in the future.
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Calligraphy, like music is based upon harmony. It takes a Master Calligrapher to compose a symphony of ink, a masterpiece as brilliant as nature itself, one
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Characteristic of small seal script, note the circular movement of the brush tip at the beginning of each stroke, indicating the application of the “hidden spear”
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the way in which the brush is controlled by the arm, wrist and finger, allowing the calligrapher to write a desired line.
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単包法 (たんほうほう, tanhō hō）, where the ring finger and the small finger are adjacent to the inner side of the palm, and the brush is held with the three remaining
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In the pair grip method, the brush axis is held between the thumb, and the index finger merges with the middle finger (first pair), supported from underneath
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