Ono Tōfū

Ono Tōfū (born 894, Japan—died 964, Japan) was a Japanese calligrapher known as one of the Sanseki (“Three Brush Traces”), in effect the first calligraphers of the age. The others were Fujiwara Yukinari and Fujiwara Sukemasa, and the three perfected the style of writing called jōdai-yō (“ancient style”). Ono was the son of a high government official. His writing, which departed from the traditional Chinese style, may be regarded as the model for subsequent Japanese...