Japanese calligraphy is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. For a long time, the most esteemed calligrapher in Japan had been Wang Xizhi, a Chinese calligrapher in the 4th century, but after the invention of Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese unique syllabaries, the distinctive Japanese writing system developed and calligraphers produced styles intrinsic to Japan. Japanese calligraphy shares its roots with Chinese calligraphy and many of its principles and techniques are very similar and recognizes the same basic writing styles.
