Ehime: 100 People Join Kakizome Calligraphy Event; Many Messages on 40-Meter Single Piece of Paper

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:17 JST, January 25, 2025

MATSUYAMA — A kakizome calligraphy event was held on Jan. 5 at a shopping mall in Matsuyama, and about 100 passersby and others wrote such things as their ambitions for the year with brushes and ink on a 1-meter-wide, 40-meter-long piece of paper.

The New Year event was organized by a group of local volunteers. It has been held since 2014 and normal-size pieces of washi traditional Japanese paper were originally used. However, as the group hoped to let participants enjoy the fun of writing on a single piece of paper together, they began using a huge piece of printing paper in 2017.

The paper was spread on a street at the shopping mall and passersby wrote on it as they pleased.

“I am going to pass the exam,” “I will study hard,” “New Year’s Day” and “Health comes first” were among the painted messages. One participant drew a snake because 2025 is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese Zodiac.

A 7-year-old elementary school student wrote, “Energetic kid,” and said that she wanted to enjoy this year with plenty of energy.