To watch Rino Arita as she creates one of her calligraphy pieces is to witness an artistic performance, much like a dance or a piano concert. She carefully sets up her inkwell, a smooth dish the color of coal, to her right and fills it with thick black ink from a tall bottle. She spreads out a green felt piece, on top of which she places a thin piece of rice paper, which she holds in place with two decorative metal paperweights. She dips her brush in the ink, gently moving it back and forth, coating the bristles.

She lays her brush to the paper, looking thoughtful. The movements of her brush swish. Sometimes a thick line. Her eyes focus on the movements of her brush.

Arita won her first calligraphy competition at age four. Since then, she has won over 155 awards for her work.

At age 18, she won first prize in a national convention for writing a Buddhist sutra of more than 2,000 Chinese characters written in gold ink on dark handmade paper.

Said Linda Fujikawa, associate professor of Japanese, "Not one mistake is allowed, with each character written with the brush, not one dot or stroke out of place. [It's] perfection and mastery . . . about the size of a door."

Calligraphy, "shodo" in Japanese, translates literally as "way of writing." "It is a way, a path, to help you in your life," Fujikawa said.

Arita has been studying shodo since she was three years old. Her grandmother is a calligraphy instructor, and she said she "grew up in a calligraphy environment." She learned from her grandmother and said that she considers writing calligraphy interesting. Her younger sister also practices calligraphy.

Her favorite characters to write include "isshokenmei" (with all one's efforts), "kansha" (gratitude) and "ai" (love).

Arita appreciates a challenge: "I'm more excited when I write difficult characters," she admitted. Good calligraphy, for her, is aesthetically beautiful and filled with emotion. To draw "love," for example, she fills her heart with that feeling.

Originally from Gunma prefecture, Arita felt somewhat restricted by her deep involvement in calligraphy and left Japan in search of some freedom. Arita came to Hawai'i because her family loves the islands. She is majoring in liberal arts at KCC and has been living here for one and a half years.

Arita loves that Hawai'i has "no discrimination against different ethnic groups," but she does miss family, friends and food in Japan.

At KCC, Arita joined Fujikawa's JPN 290 class, where she was encouraged to share her passion for shodo. She actively participates with the International Caf and has shared calligraphy presentations at the Honolulu Festival, Gen Fujikawa Memorial Fishing Tournament and Ninja Shootout, KCC International Festival and International Education Week and a disaster relief benefit for victims in the South Pacific.

Arita is deeply interested in different cultures: along with classes in linguistics and communication, she is taking courses in Hawaiian studies and Korean language. She wants to learn things like lomi lomi massage and beauty.

One day, Arita hopes to share her Japanese culture by teaching calligraphy classes in America.

Her studies in calligraphy have transferred to other parts of her life: "It helps my imagination when I think of how I can write a character. Calligraphy taught me concentration; when I study, when I play, I focus."

Fujikawa observed, "Shodo, the way of writing, has brought her [Arita] to this boundless path of possibilities."