A calligrapher in hakama uses his whole body to write on a large sheet of paper with a large brush.
There is a calligrapher who wants to overturn the image everyone has of calligraphy performances and is pursuing his own original style of Art Calligraphy performance.
He is Hashimoto Masahiro, an Art calligrapher and firefighter, who lives in Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture.
Alongside his work as a firefighter, he is active as an Art calligrapher.
Hashimoto says that at first, he also often wrote on large sheets of paper.
Today, he presents Art Calligraphy performances in a variety of settings.
At celebratory gatherings, he writes dignified characters in a solemn atmosphere; on festival stages, he livens up the venue with lighthearted talk and captivates audiences with powerful, beautiful characters.
Here, we introduce his thoughts about children and his work as an Art calligrapher and firefighter.
The information presented here was current when this article was published in November 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Art Calligrapher and Firefighter Hashimoto Masahiro
Hashimoto Masahiro has two roles: firefighter and Art calligrapher.
As a firefighter, he gives career talks to children at elementary and junior high schools. As a calligrapher, he performs at festivals and writes signs for local shops. He is actively involved in activities that energize the local community.
As a firefighter
He works mainly in the communications command room and the fire prevention division of the Ibara District Fire Department.
The communications command room is an important department that receives 119 emergency calls and issues accurate dispatch orders and instructions to the scene.
The fire prevention division works to prevent disasters before they happen. Its duties include providing guidance on evacuation drills and conducting on-site inspections to ensure that fire safety equipment is properly installed in various fire-protected properties, such as restaurants.
Hashimoto and calligraphy
Hashimoto began studying calligraphy when he was five years old and in kindergarten.
He went along to his mother’s calligraphy class. At first, he was just accompanying her, but then he said, “I want to do it too,” and started with pencil calligraphy.
Hashimoto says he liked calligraphy.
He attended calligraphy classes in elementary and junior high school, and continued to choose calligraphy as a subject after entering Okayama Prefectural Okayama Joto High School.
However, during the four years after graduating from high school and entering Ryukoku University in Kyoto, he did not pick up a brush at all.
At university, it was computers—not calligraphy—that captivated Hashimoto.
He spent all four years of university immersed in computers.
He returned to his hometown of Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture, and looked for work as a systems engineer. However, with a degree in economics, it was difficult to find a job at a related company. He applied to the Ibara District Fire Department, which happened to have an opening, and was hired as a firefighter.
After being hired as a firefighter, he was required to undergo “initial training,” where he learned the basic knowledge and skills needed for field work. He had to live in a dormitory at the fire academy for six months.
For some reason, there was a calligraphy class at the fire academy at the time.
Unexpectedly, calligraphy returned to his life.
As an Art calligrapher
Art calligraphy is an art form based on calligraphy, a traditional Japanese culture. Calligraphers use a variety of tools and freely express shapes, colors, and character sizes.
Calligraphers create works of “writing” as specialists in calligraphy.
A calligrapher’s “writing” is an artwork, and only a very small number of calligraphers are recognized by the public and have opportunities to work professionally.
Famous Japanese calligraphers include Aida Mitsuo, Takeda Soun, and Shishu.
Aida Mitsuo was also a poet and is famous for works featuring simple poems written in his distinctive style.
Takeda Soun has collaborated with musicians, artists, and various other creatives, and has created title lettering for numerous films and television dramas.
Shishu is a leading Japanese artist who has elevated “writing” into the realms of painting and sculpture.
Many of Hashimoto’s Art calligraphy works are made up of hiragana that match the meaning of the kanji characters.
It began ten years ago, in 2013, when he exhibited Art calligraphy works at a local summer festival.
Works by Art Calligrapher Hashimoto Masahiro
Some of Art calligrapher Hashimoto’s main works are shown below.
Interview
We spoke with Hashimoto Masahiro, an Art calligrapher and firefighter, about Art calligraphy and his work as a firefighter.
What inspired you to start Art calligraphy?
Hashimoto (honorific omitted)
I was influenced by the works of Kunishige Tomomi.
Kunishige Tomomi began her Art calligraphy practice, “Eekanji,” in 2003.
She is famous for her work “Flower,” the title lettering for the 2015 NHK historical drama Hana Moyu, which depicts the word using the English letters “f・l・o・w・e・r.”
Around 2010, I saw Kunishige Tomomi’s Art calligraphy, “Eekanji,” and thought, “Wow, this is amazing!”
I wondered if there was something I could do, and tried making these:
- “Joy,” made from (a・ri・ga・to・u)
- “Congratulations,” made from (o・me・de・to・u)
That’s how it started.
As I made several kanji out of hiragana and showed them to friends, word spread, and people began asking me, “Would you like to do this at an event?”
What was your first performance?
Hashimoto (honorific omitted)
My first performance was at “Yoshii Yoakari,” a summer festival in Yoshii-cho, Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture.
Someone suggested creating a section to display many large lanterns with softly glowing characters, so I increased the number of works.
The following year, I performed calligraphy on a large sheet of paper, about 3 by 4 meters, using a large brush.
Many people saw my work, and my Art calligraphy began to spread locally.
How do you put the characters together?
Hashimoto (honorific omitted)
I think, “Can I come up with something that fits the meaning of this character?” and then an idea gradually takes shape.
Sometimes inspiration comes when I’m not thinking about anything and my mind is blank, or when I’m relaxing in the bath.
I’ll think, “Oh, I’ve got an idea!” and trace it with my finger on a spot on the bathroom wall where water droplets have gathered. If I think, “This will work!” I’ll get out of the bath right away and write it down with a brush pen, still in my underwear.
These days, I create more and more using an iPad.
As a firefighter
How long have you worked in the fire service? And what kind of work do you do?
Hashimoto (name only)
I’m in my 24th year with the fire service.
Of course, I used to respond to emergencies such as medical calls and fires, but these days I’ve spent longer working in communications and fire prevention.
What does fire prevention work involve?
Hashimoto (name only)
It covers a wide range of things, including fire-safety outreach, evacuation drill instruction, hazardous materials regulation, and guidance on installing fire protection equipment.
Fire protection equipment is required by law, depending on the size of a building, to help prevent fires or limit the damage if one does occur.
I believe that in the fire service, prevention is the front line of saving lives.
Very few people who join the fire service because they want to be firefighters come in wanting to work in fire prevention.
Maybe they don’t even know that fire prevention work exists.
I hear that quite a few people in big cities want to become firefighters specifically to work in fire prevention, but hardly anyone does in Ibara City. I’d like to do something about that.
I actually wanted a job in computers
The truth is, I didn’t become a firefighter because it was what I wanted to do.
I got really into computers at university and wanted to work as a systems engineer or in a computer-related job, but it was a little difficult with a degree in economics.
While I was struggling to find a job, my mother said, “How about becoming a civil servant? The fire service is recruiting.” So I applied.
I was hired and became a firefighter.
It’s completely different from the career I originally wanted, but it’s work that helps people, and I find it rewarding.
What I want to tell children
From time to time, elementary and middle schools ask me to give talks about my work.
I give them a double feature: firefighter and Art calligrapher. I feel bad for the kids who only want to hear about firefighting, but I talk about both.
I went to university in Kyoto, but when it came time to find a job, I was determined to return to my hometown.
Back then, it was Yoshii Town, Shitsuki District, but I love this place and want not only my own children but also the next generation to love Ibara.
I hope they’ll watch an Art calligraphy performance at a local festival and remember it as one of their happy memories.
It’s not that my dream didn’t come true
What do you want to tell children?
Hashimoto (name only)
I want to tell children that even if they think their dreams won’t come true, if they keep doing what they love and pursue it wholeheartedly, things will work out.
People might think that when firefighters aren’t responding to fires or medical emergencies, all they do is train, but there’s office work too.
One day, an emergency medical technician who was overwhelmed by a huge amount of paperwork came to me, since I’m good with computers, for advice.
I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but I decided to try making software (an application) to improve office efficiency.
In the end, the software I made helped an emergency medical technician who had been struggling with paperwork.
After that, I created one program after another, including software for managing fire-safety properties and hazardous materials regulations, and they’re now used throughout the fire department.
I couldn’t become a systems engineer, but I was able to do systems-engineer-like work in the fire service.
I taught myself, and I was able to do it.
Before I knew it, one of my dreams had come true.
I originally wanted to be a systems engineer, not a firefighter, but before I knew it, I was doing systems-engineer-like work at the fire station.
Alongside my work as a firefighter, I do Art calligraphy and help energize the community.
I’m having a lot of fun with my life now. I want to tell everyone that I hope they can have a fun life too.
What lies ahead as an Art calligrapher and firefighter
What are your plans for the future as an Art calligrapher and firefighter?
Hashimoto (name only)
As a firefighter, I’m proud of my work in fire prevention too.
I want to spread the word that “prevention” is the front line of saving lives, and help more people understand the role of fire prevention.
I want to increase the number of people who want to work in fire prevention.
I also want to continue working as an Art calligrapher and help energize the community.
It makes me happy to see everyone’s smiling faces, and I enjoy it too.
Through career talks and Art calligraphy performances, I want to tell children that dreams can come true in all kinds of ways, and help them love Ibara even more.
From the Writer
The Shin Yoshii Yoimatsuri summer festival in Yoshii Town, Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture, was held for the first time in two years.
On stage, Hashimoto holds a bucket of ink and writes kanji on a large sheet of paper.
The audience watches the tip of Hashimoto’s brush.
At first glance, the finished characters look like ordinary kanji, but some are made up of hiragana related to the kanji, while others look like different characters when viewed from another angle.
The audience intently searches for the tricks hidden in the kanji. When they hear Hashimoto’s explanation, they exclaim, “Wow!” and applause breaks out across the venue.
A scene from the “Art Calligrapher and Firefighter Performance.”
As he chats breezily, he writes dreams, love, bonds, and connections…
I couldn’t become a systems engineer, but I was able to do systems-engineer-like work in the fire service.
I helped liven up the local festival with an Art calligraphy performance, and seeing everyone’s smiles was the best.
I want children to love Ibara.
I’m sure Hashimoto’s feelings are getting through to them.
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