Shodo: The Quiet Art of Japanese Zen Calligraphy, Learn the Wisdom of Zen Through Traditional Brush Painting

Zen had a great impact on the people, and during this period it exerted a formative influence on the arts of ink painting (sumi-e), Noh drama, the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, landscaping, and so forth. “The aesthetics nurtured in these arts was to remain a definitive force in Japanese culture during the following centuries” (ibid.).3