Tekagami-jo, a “mirror of hands”. A collection of exemplary calligraphy from Japan. This album contains examples from the 7th to 18th centuries, with some staggering attributions to Monk Ikkyu, Empress Komyo, Minamoto no Yoritomo and more. There are even a few early paintings as well [1536×2048]

It’s very difficult to read old documents in English because spelling, grammar, how letters are formed, and the language itself has changed so much over that time. I’m curious whether the same is true for Japanese (or any logographic writing system). Based on the value of beautiful calligraphy shown here, hopefully at least handwriting isn’t as much of a barrier but who knows?