Usually I write Japanese calligraphy in kanji, a logographic script in which each complex character has a meaning.
The above characters are hiragana, another Japanese script. Hiragana is a syllabary – each character represents a sound, but has no meaning by itself.
Kanji was invented in China, but hiragana is a purely Japanese invention. Hiragana characters are curvy and flowing, giving this type of calligraphy artwork a more graceful feel.
It’s often said that there are 2 writing systems which were invented in Japan – hiragana and katakana (another syllabary).
However… today the above may very well be written “🌊🎣”, so I would like to propose that there are in fact three writing systems which were invented in Japan 🙂
This article by StoryLearning has a good explanation of how Japanese writing systems are used.
Calligraphy by Vicky 