Shoko Kanazawa(b.1985 in Tokyo) has gone through intensive training of calligraphy under her mother who is a recognized calligrapher since Shoko was 5 years old.
In spite of the difficulties of having Down Syndrome, Shoko excelled her calligraphy talent at early age and become renowned artist.

Since her first solo show in 2000, Shoko has had numerous exhibitions and demonstrations of her brush works throughout Japan.
It is obvious that there is something other than technical mastery that has been drawing in crowds to Shoko’s non-stop exhibits and that so deeply moves the audience as they watch her create her calligraphy.
Since 2006, her works have been shown at the Kenchoji Temple and many renowned Buddhist temples in Japan.
Shodo, ‘the way of calligraphy’, can trace its origins to the very earliest days of Chinese culture, and like so many other ‘dou’- traditional Japanese arts, has found expression over the centuries in the unique space where Japanese culture and Buddhism converge.
Shoko has been widely recognized among the Buddhist temples as one of the best master calligrapher in the world.
In 2011, NHK (Japan's public TV station) asked her to create the title for their new 2012 historical drama, "Taira no Kiyomori", a great honor and seal of approval for her artistic achievement.

A contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as, "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner".
Shoko's calligraphy is not merely an art of writing Chinese and Japanese characters.
Even without understanding the meaning of the characters, people find themselves standing before the humungous scrolls, drawn in to the point where time and place momentarily slip away.
She is capable of demonstrating the words' deep meanings in such manners that her brush-written characters become painterly expressions and moving experience to be shared by people who do not necessarily read the characters.
Shoko is living in the world without the concept of the time because of her Down Syndrome.
She could feel just "now", there is no purpose, there is only pure mind, and that is the nearest way to be a master of art.
Shoko Kanazawa is not only talented calligrapher but also great artist.