It so happens the Mainichi Shimbun holds Japan's largest, finest and oldest eponymous competition for ornamental stenography. I found no accompanying article, but no matter: the photograph speaks volumes. 3,500 children entered their creations, part poem and part painting. To one unlettered in the Japanese language, calligraphy is simply beautiful imagery. Add meaning, and you begin to understand why the craft has endured for over a thousand years.