The Chinese system of writing began to developed more than 4,000 years ago. Since then, tens of thousands of Chinese Characters, called ñ Kanji ñ in Japanese, have been developed and incorporated into Japanese language.

Brush and Sumi ink calligraphy using the Kanji and the other phonetic symbols, such as Kana has become an art form much appreciated in Japan. Through the cursive strokes of Kana, the freely flowing gracefulness of Japanese SHO was born. SHO is not a method of neatly writing characters, rather It is a visual art requiring the harmony of one's body and mind. The brush becomes and extension of one's hand conveying the true feeling of one's soul. It is meant to express one's inner-most self. Circles, triangles or characters executed by distinguished Zen monks are appreciated and admired as fine art forms work in Japan, because in them can be seen the spirit and soul of monks.

Sumi-E means painting with Sumi ink. Generally, ink stick is made of a fine pine soot or lamp soot with animal glue as a binder. Depending on materials , Sumi ink produces various shade of black : black - black, brown - black, blue - black and purple- brown - black. Although Sumi ink looks black, strokes drawn in diluted Sumi ink Sumi-ink only looks black, strokes drawn in diluted Sumi ink can be distinguished in a variety of shades and tones in the black. Today Sumi-E also includes painting with a variety of colors.