The NHK taiga drama “Hikaru Kimi e” depicts the life of Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote the full-length novel “The Tale of Genji” during the Heian period. One of the highlights is the calligraphy scene. There have been many scenes in which Mahiro (later Murasaki Shikibu, Yuriko Yoshitaka) and other characters see the words written on the text and their thoughts grow. We asked Satoshi Nemoto, who wrote the title and is in charge of calligraphy instruction, to talk about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the calligraphy that supports the world of Shining You.

The essence of Japan comes together

Beautiful Japanese paper with flowing letters. The 37th episode, broadcast on September 29th, showed a scene in which Chugu Shoko produced a luxurious book of The Tale of Genji to present to Emperor Ichijo.

Mr. Nemoto is an expert in Japanese calligraphy. When I was in junior high school, my tutor was a writer of kana characters, and I became interested in Japanese calligraphy. “I only used calligraphy, so I only wrote on white paper, but Japanese calligraphy is written on colorful paper. There are craftsmen who make the paper and hanging scrolls. It’s not about self-expression. It’s about Japanese style. “A world where people come together to create harmony,” he says of his appeal.

This work is set in the mid-Heian period, when kana writing was popular and a lot of women’s literature was born. The reason why he accepted the calligraphy instruction was, “I had the impression that calligraphers write large letters, so it always took me a while to introduce myself and tell people about Japanese calligraphy.” “I was there,” he explains.

change your dominant hand

The calligraphy scene is performed by an actor. Yoshitaka, who plays Mahiro, is left-handed, but when filming, he holds the brush with his right hand.

“When I was approached to teach calligraphy, I was asked to see if Mr. Yoshitaka could write with a different handedness.After practicing a few times, I thought, “I can do it.”It was just a coincidence, though. By changing my dominant hand, I was able to hold the brush more softly, creating an elegant Heian atmosphere.”

Looking back on his early writing, Yoshitaka said, “I often put such bad handwriting in videos,” but added, “Yoshitaka’s kana writing has improved to the point where even if I write it in conjunction with mine, I can barely understand it.” I often say, “The calligraphy is the person,” and when Mahiro becomes Murasaki Shikibu, the calligraphy also becomes sophisticated and mature.”

In an interview, Yoshitaka himself cited “calligraphy” as something that has visibly helped him grow. “She’s a natural person, but she’s a hard worker.When I look at the amount of writing she’s written during lessons at home, it’s amazing.”She works so hard that you’ll say, “I’m crying while I’m doing it.”” .

Changes as a writer

The scene where Mahiro writes the story as a writer has been changed. “Writing a story means entering your own world, so I turned my posture into a hunched position.Up until now, I had been holding the brush gracefully, but I have lowered the place where I hold the brush.I hold it tightly and write quickly. “I wanted it to give the impression that it was for the sake of it,” he says.

It is said that the evolution of stationery cannot be overlooked. For example, the paper Mahiro is writing on. When he lived in poverty, it was a mixed brownish paper, but when he started writing The Tale of Genji in the imperial court, it became a high-quality paper. “Low-quality paper tends to smudge, so I write in large fonts, but as the story progresses to the second half, I start writing in more densely packed letters. Michinaga-san gave me a sharp brush, so I can draw fine lines and write small letters.”

Murasaki Shikibu is the author’s character

Character is revealed in the characters. The shape of each character was determined based on historical materials and character settings.

Although no letters written by Murasaki Shikibu remain, this is based on historical materials that are believed to be close to his own handwriting. “Murasaki Shikibu’s handwriting was very thin and had a lot of rotation, giving the impression that it was small-grained.Since he was a writer, not a calligrapher, I think he had the impression that he wrote quickly rather than slowly.”

Fujiwara no Michinaga, played by Tasuku Emoto, has a copy of Michinaga’s own handwritten “Mido Kanpakuki,” but due to the unique shape of the letters, he decided to use the letters from the book as they were. “Mido Kanpakuki’s handwriting is not beautiful.I think it’s because he was able to live without having to worry about anyone.Mr. Emoto said that even though he practiced, he said, “I can’t get better.” But even if you can write Michinaga’s handwriting, it doesn’t mean you can write beautiful characters,” he says with a laugh.

Daichi Watanabe, who is also active as a musician, plays the role of Yukinari Fujiwara, a master calligrapher. “You’re very good at writing,” he praises her. “If you give me a model, it seems like all I have to do is imitate the shape, but I was asked, “Can you just write it once?” But he wasn’t looking at the handwriting.He was looking at the way the brush moved and the rhythm. . So I write it the same way.”

4 presentations 800 sheets

At the request of the production team, I was also in charge of the title. He told me, “I want to look for something that conveys what a Heian drama was like just by looking at the title,” and I rewrote it many times while exchanging opinions. She said she didn’t understand the advice to “make it more erotic and pop”. The hint came from a phone call from chief director Yuki Nakajima. “When Mahiro writes a love letter to Michinaga, I would like to see what would happen if he wrote the address as “To Shining-kun,” instead of “To Michinaga-sama.” He replied, “I was amazed. I can’t see.” I imagined the feeling of grasping something, and stretched out the last line of light.” The title is a combination of the thoughts of Mahiro and Michinaga, giving a sense of softness and strength. He gave four presentations and wrote 800 pages.

I want to convey Japanese calligraphy

Many of the completed books and scrolls that appear in the story were written by Nemoto. Of all the works he produced, the one he was most nervous about was the collection of Kokin waka poems that Yukinari presented to Emperor Ichijo. “I want to concentrate on Yukinari, so I write with such seriousness that I won’t take any other orders. Yukinari is the god of calligraphy for me.”

The birth scene of “The Pillow Book” by Sei Shonagon (First Summer Uika) also became a hot topic. The sentence that begins with “Spring is Akebono” that is displayed large on the screen was written by Mr. Nemoto. “I wrote it with a sense of responsibility and was nervous. Some people may want it to be smaller and more elegant, but for me, I wrote it so that I could imagine Uika’s face,” he says.

Many people are looking forward to the calligraphy scene in the movie. “People pause and say, “Because I’m playing this role, I have to write like this.”In an age when people no longer write by hand, I’m happy that my handwriting can be seen on screen.” Satoko Yuhara)

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Root knowledge

Satoshi NemotoCalligrapher. Completed doctoral course at Daito Bunka University Graduate School. Specially appointed lecturer at Rissho University Faculty of Letters. In 2019, a solo exhibition was held in New York, USA. His major publications include “Introduction to Heian Kana Calligraphy: How to View and Learn Old Handwriting.”

Yuriko Yoshitaka’s “Calligraphy”, where she faces away from her dominant hand

Yu Emoto and Yuriko Yoshitaka, who plays Michinaga, are “very purple shikibu”

Eihisa Shiono as Emperor Ichijo, the single-minded love that dominates the imperial court