Figure 6.6: A bootleg of the literary giant Lu Xun’s writing, this forgery substituted a red fingerprint for a seal next to his signature—index upon index, fake certification for the fake.

Figure 6.7. Calligrapher Yeo Tae myeong successfully sued the production company of Festival (Chukje, 1996), which stole his calligraphy for their opening title and poster design.

Figure 6.8. A direct relative of Confucius, seventy-seven generations away from the philosopher, drew the calligraphy for Confucius (Kong Zi, 2010).

Figure 6.9. The same poem from the Meiji emperor is prominently featured in two wartime films, War at Sea from Hawai’i to Malaya (Mare Hawai okikaisen, 1942) and Young Soldiers of the Sky (Sora no shonenhei, 1940). This non-diegetic display effectively united the characters and the audience with the presence of the sovereign.

Figure 6.10. Li Xianting wrote a notice (left) announcing the forced closure of his ninth Beijing Independent Film Festival, echoing a similar notice he wrote in 1989 when the first exhibition of postwar modernist work was also shut down. Anticipating more police interference, the poster design for the tenth festival by Wang Wo (middle) integrated the previous year’s notice. His catalog cover (right) integrates the notice Li wrote back in the 1980s, making the connection explicit.

Figure 6.11. Scratched frames from Iimura Takahiko’s White Calligraphy (1967).

Figure 6.12. In a ritual of contrition, redemption and protection from evil, a murderous disciple carves out the characters of the Heart Sutra written (with a cat’s tail) by his master in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring (Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom, 2003).

Figure 6.13. Two performances of Iimura Takahiko’s White Calligraphy. On the top, the director writes on a small projected image while the film runs (the character is 命, or “life”). The bottom image shows the theater at the instant the house lights go on, the projector aimed at the screen Iimura painted on during the film’s performance.

Figure 6.13. Two performances of Iimura Takahiko’s White Calligraphy. On the top, the director writes on a small projected image while the film runs (the character is 命, or “life”). The bottom image shows the theater at the instant the house lights go on, the projector aimed at the screen Iimura painted on during the film’s performance.

Figure 6.14. Mishima Yukio painted the scrolling intertitles for Patriotism (Yukoku, 1966), smudging out mistakes rather than starting from over again.

Figure 6.15. The corrections in Wang Xizhi’s “Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion” (Lantingji Xu, 353) are an essential part of the work and copied by collectors over the centuries. Courtesy of the Palace Museum.

Figure 6.16. In Yakuza’s Tale (Tosei ninretsuden, 1969), Takakura Ken pins a bad guy to the character for longevity with a samurai sword.

Figure 6.17. This massive prop from Ran (1985), seen here in the props department at Toho Studios, was visualized from the beginning as a major feature in the film’s design.

Figure 6.18. The Hachiman Daibosatsu scroll from Ran (1985) on the set. The calligrapher said it was the version that best communicated the movement of his body.

Figure 6.19. The somatics of pedagogy: before taking up the brush, students mimic their teacher’s stroke movements while learning calligraphy. From Peter Alechinsky’s Calligraphy Japonaise (1956).

Figure 7.1. 13 Assassins (13-nin no shikaku, 2010): calligraphy written by mouth, by a woman whose arms and legs were cut off by a rival, with tears of blood splashing the page. The assassin displays her message—“Kill them all”/みなごろし—before slaughtering the villain.

Figure 7.2. The last writing of Mizoguchi, from the documentary Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (Aru eiga kantoku no shogai, 1975). In the tradition of Buddhist disciples capturing the moment of death of their master through calligraphy, his screenwriter gave him pen and paper the day before he died. The director wrote, “The chill autumn air has already arrived. I want the pleasure of working with all of you at the studio.” On the lower left above the seal, it says, “Mizoguchi Kenji’s last writing (zeppitsu); recorded by Yoda Yoshikata.” The seal has the crushed character for 義, the third character in Yoda’s name.

Figure 7.3. In What’s a Film Director? (Eiga kantoku tte nan da?, 2006), every wispy line of Oshima Nagisa’s painting registers his lack of bodily control and his utter will to finish. From the fading ink, it is clear he wrote backwards (left to right), starting with his name.

Figure 7.4. The Human Promise (a.k.a. A Promise, Ningen no yakusoku, 1986) starts with a title card that mixes (from left to right) Semi-Cursive Walking Style, Seal Style, Standard Style, and Cursive Grass Style.