Changes

Over the centuries, Japanese writing of course took myriad forms running the full gamut from works solely in ''kana'' to those solely in ''kanji'', being used to produce everything from poetry and literature, to letters and other forms of communications, to formal records. Forms using ''kanji'' exclusively, or almost exclusively, are known as ''[[kanbun]]'', while other forms are known as ''wabun''.

Over the centuries, Japanese writing of course took myriad forms running the full gamut from works solely in ''kana'' to those solely in ''kanji'', being used to produce everything from poetry and literature, to letters and other forms of communications, to formal records. Forms using ''kanji'' exclusively, or almost exclusively, are known as ''[[kanbun]]'', while other forms are known as ''wabun''.

Writing was done chiefly, if not exclusively, with brushes for many years, until the advent of the pen in modern times. [[Printing and Publishing|Woodblock printing]] in the [[Edo period]] (17th-19th centuries) became a major mode of publication of written materials; though Japan briefly experimented with movable type in the late 16th century, it was only in the late 19th century that moveable type re-emerged and replaced woodblock as the chief mode of publication. The advent of moveable type, along with the shift from brushes to pens/pencils, brought about significant changes in the aesthetic forms of Japanese characters, and of Japanese writing as a whole. Pen & pencil produce much sharper lines, with sharper contours and consistent thickness of line; moveable type and, later, typewriters and modern electronic printing & displays, allowed for the language to become considerably standardized, such that the flowing and cursive forms of the past have now become relatively stark and standard in form.

Writing was done chiefly, if not exclusively, with brushes for many years, until the advent of the pen in modern times. Pencils using [[lead]] or red ochre were imported from the [[Dutch East India Company]] for a time, and were treasured by the shogunate and ''daimyô'' as exceptionally rare luxury items; graphite pencils came into use in Europe only first beginning in the 17th century, and did not become common in Japan until the late 19th.<ref>Cynthia Viallé, "In Aid of Trade: Dutch Gift-Giving in Tokugawa Japan," ''Tokyo daigaku shiryôhensanjo kenkyû kiyô'' 16 (2006), 75n43.</ref>

 

[[Printing and Publishing|Woodblock printing]] in the [[Edo period]] (17th-19th centuries) became a major mode of publication of written materials; though Japan briefly experimented with movable type in the late 16th century, it was only in the late 19th century that moveable type re-emerged and replaced woodblock as the chief mode of publication. The advent of moveable type, along with the shift from brushes to pens/pencils, brought about significant changes in the aesthetic forms of Japanese characters, and of Japanese writing as a whole. Pen & pencil produce much sharper lines, with sharper contours and consistent thickness of line; moveable type and, later, typewriters and modern electronic printing & displays, allowed for the language to become considerably standardized, such that the flowing and cursive forms of the past have now become relatively stark and standard in form.

==History==

==History==