Hokusai remains one of my favourite Japanese artists - not because of his famous painting "The Great Wave', but because his mastery of the brush allowed him to blend pictorial representation with the rhythmic energy of written characters, which always fascinated me. How can combine strict rules imposed on artists back then and yet offer intense, wavering, and lively calligraphic energy?

In Hokusai’s work, the term Kenjin (Sages or Wise Men) often refers to the traditional scholars and philosophers of antiquity, most notably the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" (Chikurin no Shichi Kenjin). These figures were revered for their intellect, poetry, and mastery of the brush. To convey the heavy folds and draped weight of a sage's sleeves, Hokusai employed thick, swelling strokes that mirror the gyōsho (semi-cursive) and sōsho (cursive) scripts of Japanese calligraphy.

A fundamental principle in East Asian calligraphy is that the written character must possess ki (life energy or spirit). A technically perfect character without ki is considered dead and Hokusai's sketches have undeniable vitality and ki which can still be felt now.