Eisai (Eiko Ishida) is a professional Japanese calligraphy artist, based in the South of England, with over 25 years’ experience.

She took up shodo (Japanese calligraphy) at the age of 7 and since then she has been working on many calligraphy pieces both in traditional, and her own original style.

Eisai was trained in the ´Seikyu Shodo kai (青邱書道会)´ calligraphy society founded in 1976 by Seikyu Yamashita. Mr Yamashita is also President of The Japanese Calligraphy Education Society. As Eisai’s master in Japan, Mr Yamashita has been the main influence in Eisai's development as a calligraphy artist. After 10 years of practice in the society, Eiko was given her professional calligraphy name, "Eisai (英彩)". Eisai has had her calligraphy displayed at many exhibitions and events in Japan and the UK.

Shodo, the Japanese name for calligraphy, means ´the way of writing´.

Calligraphy is an art form that has been studied for over three thousand years. Calligraphy is not merely an exercise in good handwriting, but rather the foremost art form of the Orient. It is the combination of the skill and imagination of the person who has studied intensely the combinations available using only lines. Shodo attempts to bring words to life, and endow them with character. Styles are highly individualistic, differing from person to person. Japanese calligraphy differs from Chinese calligraphy by the use of Hiragana (unique written language) which was developed with a more feminine and flowing style of brush strokes. Bear in mind that the characters must be written only once. There is no altering, touching up, or adding to them afterwards. So the calligrapher must be very skilled.

Eisai's calligraphy pieces are unique and would make a great gift at any special occasion for someone you love, or just for yourself. Her pieces are available for purchase through this website as interior design artwork, gifts, or tattoos.

Eisai has had her calligraphy displayed at many exhibitions and events in Japan and the UK: