Japanese Calligraphy: Shodo

Shodo, the art of Japanese calligraphy, was recommended for UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in November 2026, with the final decision due in December. This app brings the real practice to your iPad: made in Japan by a Japanese developer, with the paper, the brush strokes and the texts that Japanese people have copied for centuries. No experience and no Japanese needed. HOW IT WORKS Faint guide characters appear on the paper. Trace them with Apple Pencil or your finger. When a character repeats, the guide fades step by step until you write it on your own. That is how children in Japan learn to write, and it works for kanji at any age. A MINDFUL TEN MINUTES Shakyo, copying a sutra by hand, is practiced at temples across Japan as a form of moving meditation. Open the Heart Sutra, follow the brush, and let the 276 characters slow you down. Add a wish and your name at the end, the traditional way. A REAL BRUSH, NOT A FELT PEN • Pressure makes the line thick or thin; pause and the tip spreads, flick and it tapers • Three brushes (guide, soft, dark ink) with dry-brush texture • Three scripts: regular (kaisho), semi-cursive (gyosho) and cursive (sosho) • Authentic sutra paper with 17 characters per column: natural, white or gold on indigo LEARN KANJI THE RIGHT WAY • Stroke order for every character, and a gentle hint when a stroke is out of order • Readings (furigana) beside the guide, so you always know what you are writing • A ballpoint-pen mode with cross-guided cells, just like a Japanese handwriting workbook: 111 sheets of hiragana, katakana, basic kanji, seasonal words, idioms, proverbs, letter phrases, family names and the 47 prefectures • Moves to the next character automatically; stop any time and pick up where you left off WHAT YOU CAN WRITE • Sutras: the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyo), the Ten-Verse Kannon Sutra, Shari Raimon, the Kannon Sutra verse and the Mantra of Light • All 100 poems of the Hyakunin Isshu, 93 haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa and Shiki, 8 classical Chinese poems • Japanese literature: Ame ni mo Makezu, I Am a Cat, Botchan, Rashomon, Night on the Galactic Railroad and more • Kakizome (January 1–15): the first calligraphy of the year. Write your word for the year in large characters and print it as an A4 artwork with your name, the date and a red seal KEEP GOING, KEEP WHAT YOU MAKE • A five-week calendar, your streak and your total • Review the whole sheet, tap any character to rewrite it, then save as an image, print or share PRICE • Free: 200+ texts including the Heart Sutra, all kana sheets and ten Hyakunin Isshu poems (with ads) • All Works Pack, a one-time purchase: every text, the Yu Kyokasho script, backup and restore, and no ads. Not a subscription CREDITS Guide fonts: Yuji Syuku, Klee One and Noto Serif JP (SIL Open Font License), Kouzan Mouhitsu Font (Kouzan Aoyagi) and Yu Kyokasho (downloaded by iOS from Apple with the All Works Pack). Stroke-order data: KanjiVG (© Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0). All texts are in the public domain or are common phrases. The developer is not affiliated with UNESCO.