Hautes Capelles pupils learn the way of Japanese calligraphy

The children have been studying a novel called Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo which touches on Japanese culture and discusses the country’s language and art. The school asked local artist Naoko Mauger to build on that by bringing her Japanese shodo calligraphy workshop to their classroom.

‘The workshops have brought the story to life,’ said Year 5 and literacy teacher Sayjan Leece.

‘To have a go themselves and learn from somebody who is actually from Japan is really good. They respond well to her and it’s just brilliant for them to learn about different cultures.

‘The kids really love the book. It’s all about survival and relationships between families and the contents page is actually in Japanese.

‘There’s also two Japanese words within the book, so the children have seen it before and are excited when they recognise the calligraphy that Naoko shows them. It’s really great for them to put the two together.’

Mrs Mauger, originally from Fukuoka in Kyushu in Japan, moved to the island with her husband 16 years ago.

She holds a Japanese calligraphy master licence and started running workshops locally a year ago. She has been involved in a number of events highlighting Japanese culture, including a 2019 exhibition at Candie Museum.

This is the second time Mrs Mauger has held a workshop at the school and it plans for it to be a regular occurrence while the children study the book in the curriculum. She said she is impressed with the concentration and skill levels shown by the pupils.

‘It’s quite amazing that they are so focused and I think they really like creating their own ink. I think that is quite an unusual activity for them.’

Nine-year-old Ella Mackay was one of the pupils enjoying the workshop, ‘it’s quite fun,’ she said.

‘It’s like writing but with a big brush and ink that you make yourself.’

Mrs Mauger said that her workshops have proven ‘very popular’ and attracted a wide range of ages.

‘Many of the people that come have a shared passion for Japanese culture, either in Japan or anime,’ she said.

‘I think the youngest was a 12-year-old, but even in a room full of adults, he was able to talk about animation and share the same passion as everyone else who was there. It’s like there are no borders between ages.’

Mrs Mauger was also ‘amazed’ to have been asked to conduct workshop for children as young as two and three at Monkey Puzzle nursery.

‘We don’t teach calligraphy until children are six years old in Japan, so I had no idea what would happen,’ she said, ‘but they did it perfectly and it was incredible.’