A little girl is writing during a calligraphy contest in Tokyo January 5, 2007. New Year's resolutions are notoriously hard to keep but thousands of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to capture their hopes in flowing ink strokes. The first time any activity is performed in the new year is believed to be especially auspicious in Japan, and the year's first calligraphy -- "kakizome" -- is thought to be most appropriate for New Year's resolutions. Calligraphy is a widely practiced and revered art in Japan, where the act of writing out Chinese characters is believed to sharpen the mind and improve concentration. With swift strokes of a thick horse-hair brush, the calligraphers covered long sheets of paper with the characters and phrases that best described their resolution, often with considerable poetic licence. "I want to study harder and become more intelligent this year," said eight-year-old Tomoyuki Hirayama, whose vows were represented by the phrase "Clear blue skies." Others used the words "to be courageous." "I wished for peace," said 12-year-old Yuki Naito, whose paper read "peaceful country." Not all 3,500 participants were able to achieve the sought-after state of concentration believed best for calligraphy as they competed for the best brushwork. "My hand was shaking, I was so nervous," said Kyoko Ishibashi, a 68-year-old school teacher. 點擊查看更多雙語新聞 (Reuters)

眾所周知，新年的承諾總是很難兌現，而數千名日本人則于上周五齊聚東京市中心，將他們的新年愿望用毛筆寫了下來。 在日本，新年里所做的第一件事往往被認為特別吉祥。所以新年的第一幅書法作品則被認為是許下新年愿望的最好方式。 書法這門藝術在日本大行其道，備受尊敬，練漢字書法被公認為是一種能夠促進思維和提高注意力的好方法。 書法作者們用粗馬鬃毛筆在長幅紙上寫下自己的新年愿望，他們所用的詞句通常都很押韻。 八歲的平山智之說：“我希望自己在新的一年里更用功、更聰明。”他用“晴空萬里”這個成語表達了自己的新年愿望。 還有人用了“勇敢”這個詞。12歲的由希內藤說："我渴望和平"。他寫下的新年愿望是"和平家園"。 參加此次活動的3500名書法作者互相比拼，看誰的水平最高，但是并不是所有人都能達到寫書法所要求的專心境界。 68歲的京澤佑子老師說：“我很緊張，我的手一直在抖。” （英語點津姍姍編輯）