東京漢学館

Tokyo Kangakukan is a salon for courses and cultural gatherings where the traditional arts of East Asia — calligraphy, ink painting, tea, incense, and the reading of classical Chinese texts — can be studied systematically and experienced first-hand.

We welcome members of the Chinese cultural community in Tokyo, Japanese friends drawn to Chinese culture, and artists from both countries. All courses are small-group and reservation-only: in a calm setting, each participant works with brush, tea and incense directly, learning culture through the senses.

The brushes, ink, paper, tea and incense used in our courses are chosen for verified origin and provenance. Our calligraphy paper is Red Star xuan paper, whose traditional craft is inscribed on China's national intangible cultural heritage list — working on the genuine paper is itself the heart of the course.

All programs are reservation-only and limited in size. For schedules and details, please contact us below.

We publish the classics of the Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist traditions in the original classical Chinese, free to read, with sources and collation notes stated on every page. The library currently holds the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the twenty books of the Analects, the seven books of the Mencius, the seven Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi, and six Chan Buddhist scriptures including the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra.

Xuan paper is the classical paper of Chinese calligraphy and painting, made in Jing County, Anhui. Its craft is inscribed on China's national intangible cultural heritage list and on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Prized for a lifespan said to exceed a thousand years and for the way it receives ink, it has carried the work of calligraphers and painters for centuries. Red Star is its most celebrated brand.

At Tokyo Kangakukan the paper is on permanent display, and visitors can try it under the brush in our courses — to our knowledge the first place in Tokyo where the paper can be examined hands-on before choosing.

Two apps by our lecturer Zhen Peng (Koken Shoja) that carry East Asian traditional culture into daily life, both available on the App Store.