"Examples of the earliest beginnings of expressive writing go back as far as Egyptian hieroglyphic writings found on animal bones, Hindustan writings found in India, Sumerian inscriptions and Chinese characters found on tortoise shell. Of these, Chinese characters alone remain today in their original form. What Japanese calligraphers have tried to do is to use the Chinese characters as a basis for linking the 4,000-year history of writing known as 'shodo' (the art of calligraphy) with the present, and in so doing create a meaningful form of expressionistic art that will continue into the future."
Shisen Fukasawa draws upon the words and thoughts of her teacher in discussing the mind and the brush. She added: " 'Sho' has to be beautiful to the beholder and must be full of character. The shape and form of sho is structured by the mind, and at the same time the mind is expressed by the shape and form of sho. . . . If the mind is straight, the brush will write correctly."
Shisen is better known in Tokyo international circles as Teruko Fukasawa, manager of the Tokyo Clinic Dental Office. Hers is the quiet, understanding voice on the telephone, and the calm, reassuring presence in the reception room. Hers is the bandbox appearance that could be an advertisement for good dental hygiene and health. She has known some patients for 45 years, and now receives some second-generation patients returned as adults to Tokyo. Interestingly, she took up calligraphy directly as a result of her association with Dr. John Besford, who opened his dental practice in Tokyo soon after the end of the war.