We are pleased to announce that Rihaku Inoue, a calligraphy artist, will hold a calligraphy demonstration and workshop at Setsugekka, themed “Draw your Summer” on uchiwa, a Japanese fan, with a writing brush.

Based in Japan, Rihaku is active at numerous solo exhibitions, workshops, and demonstrations domestically and overseas, mainly in New York. She is a consultant of the Japan Calligraphy Museum and a calligraphy professor of the Japan Education Calligraphy Federation. She held the 10th anniversary solo exhibition at Setsugekka in December, 2017.

Rihaku creates a new type of Japanese calligraphy, in which she not only writes with a brush and ink but also incorporates color, such as acrylic paints. She produces her works to present the beauty of “Sho,” instant art, to the world. Japanese calligraphic art is commonly understood to be simply “writing,” but Rihaku believes that this art form is equal or superior to other visual and performing arts. Even if the audience has no knowledge of Japanese characters, she wants this contemporary Japanese calligraphy to stimulate the senses of people across the world, without borders, and reach out to their souls. This is the reason that she attempts to use more three-dimensional, active expressions.

Rihaku has provided calligraphic designs to corporations, including label artwork for Japanese sake manufacturer Hakushika Sake.

She has also designed wall artwork for a New York restaurant, and her wall art at a roadside rest area (Kasaoka Bay Farm) in Okayama Prefecture has been featured on television.