Calligraphy tools can be bought at Daiso, Ichibankan, or Kinokuniya book store. You can also find them online, of course. If there’s a Daiso nearby, I would suggest buying the tools and materials from there since it’s the cheapest, though most of the time they are out of stock.
Tools and materials:
- Large brushes for writing the chracters
- Small brush for writing your name or other words in small font.
- Suzuri (Ink stone) OR Sumi (Liquid ink – Needs to be calligraphy ink and not other types of ink. Some other inks might not be dark enough.
- If you’d like to try or enjoy the process of grinding ink, you can buy the ink stone. When grinding for ink, do not add too much water, otherwise the ink color won’t be dark enough. If you happen to add to much water, which I always did, you should continue grinding until the ink is dark.
- Needless to say, liquid ink is the most convenient and less time consuming one. However, it could get costly if you’re buying it online.
- Bunchin (paper weight) – Basically, you can use anything heavy enough to keep the paper from moving when writing. I use my fridge magnets.
- Shitajiki (mat) – Any felt fabric would be fine to keep the ink from getting on your table. Fabric needs to be big enough to place the calligraphy paper on top.
- Papers for calligraphy – Recommend buying calligraphy paper so you can get the authentic feeling
- Seal (If you want to add your personal seal on your works
- Big eraser – at least 3cm or larger in dimensions (most simplest and cheapest choice)
- Calligraphy seal – I’ve seen several calligraphy kits that include a seal, but I don’t know about the quality of the items though.
- Chisel/carving tools
- These are needed for carving your seal
- If you’re using a big eraser, you can also use an exacto knife
- Ink/stamp pad for the seal
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