70 Years of Passing Down the Brush and the Spirit

Origin

This studio began as a small terakoya in the Showa era.

Seventy years ago —
the founder, Grand Master Wado Utita,
established Wado Shoin at the foot of Mount Koya,
in the village once known as Shibuta-no-sho,
with a single wish:
to raise young people who walk both the path of learning and the path of discipline.

Calligraphy, Karate, and study.
This place was born as a space for shaping one’s character
through these three paths,
a modern terakoya of the Showa era.

To hold the brush is to face oneself.
To clench the fist is to learn respect.
These teachings have been passed down unchanged
for over seventy years, and continue to this day.

The Way of Calligraphy, Woven from Master to Disciple.

Master Wado Uchida began his training at the age of five, before the war, under Master Shiyu Tsujimoto —
a renowned calligrapher who played a key role in the founding of Nitten and the Japan Calligraphy Institute.

Though the war once separated master and disciple,
they were reunited after the war, and the bond between them was renewed.
For twenty-five years, Master Uchida continued to receive his guidance and teachings.

That spirit of calligraphy was then passed on to the next generation.
The second-generation master, Yoshihisa Wado (Master KUBO), also began training at the age
of five under the founder, Master Wado Uchida.
After twenty-five years of learning, he moved to Himeji and inherited what is now Wado Shoin.

From Shiyu Tsujimoto to Wado Uchida,
and from Wado Uchida to Sokyu Wado —
a long, unbroken lineage of masters and disciples forms the foundation of Wado Shoin.

Inherit

A spirit passed on, toward what comes next.

There is a spirit we have cherished since the very beginning.

It comes from the words of Chogyu Takayama,
a Meiji-era writer and thinker:

”Stars in the sky,
flowers on the earth,
and love in every heart.”

Holding these words in our hearts,
through calligraphy we offer moments to
connect with others,
to feel respect for nature,
and to quietly face one’s own inner self.

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