Kana Division II Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

The second of two kana calligraphy classes, where connected Japanese syllabary writing is submitted as an unmounted sheet and ranked by a jury rather than performed live.

Kana Division II is the other half of the kana pair on the Japanese calligraphy template. Entrants write in kana, the syllabary developed alongside kanji, and hand in a finished sheet instead of writing in front of a panel. Because a jury only ever sees the paper, everything an entrant intends has to be visible in the brush line, the spacing and the finish of the sheet.

The template keeps the two kana classes separate so that an organiser can run them as two ranked lists. What decides which text goes into Division I and which into Division II is not stated in the source material, so this page does not guess: the organiser’s entry notice is the authority, and an entrant should read it before picking a poem or a passage.

A round works like the other submission classes. Entrants register ahead of time, choose their text, write it on the sheet size the organiser allows, and send it in unmounted by the receiving date. Judges then examine the sheets side by side, usually in one sitting, so a sheet that looks balanced from a metre away has an advantage over one that only works up close.

On the template the item is Individual, open to any gender, set to Japanese, with a 100-mark working scale and no time limit or warning bell. It appears in both the 24-and-over and the 16-to-23 brackets, counted as at 1 April.

Organisers value a second kana class because it lets more entrants be placed in a field that rewards quiet, precise control. Splitting the field also keeps the placings meaningful when many sheets use similar classical verse.

Where Kana Division II is run

On eTalenter this item is used in a single template, the Japanese calligraphy exhibition template, which carries nine classes covering kanji, kana, modern poetry, large-character, seal engraving, carved-character and avant-garde work. That template follows a large national exhibition held in Japan. Other calligraphy contests and school clubs set their own kana classes, so the organiser’s rules always decide.

• Japan (the exhibition the template is built from)

Key facts

• Individual item: one entrant and one submitted sheet, any gender
• Written in kana rather than kanji, in Japanese
• The second of the template’s two kana classes, next to Kana Division I
• Two brackets on the template: 24 and over, and 16 to 23, as at 1 April
• Judged on unmounted work, so there is no stage time and no warning bell
• Scored out of 100 as a working default because the source prints no scale

On eTalenter, Kana Division II is filed under Off Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Kana Division II is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100.

What judges look at in Kana Division II

What a Kana Division II panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• No judging sheet is published by the source, so treat these as yardsticks to agree with the panel in advance
• Continuity: whether one syllable leads into the next without a break in energy or a visible restart
• Hairline quality: thin strokes that stay even in width and do not wobble or dry out
• Spacing between lines and the white left around the writing, which carries much of the sheet’s elegance
• Ink handling: planned changes in density across the sheet, not smudges or pooling
• Accuracy of the text, including correct syllable shapes and sensible line endings
• Finish: a clean sheet at the allowed size with the signature and seal supporting, not competing with, the writing

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Kana Division II under Scoring Setup, or start from the full handwriting & calligraphy judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Kana Division II

How entrants and their teachers usually get Kana Division II right on the day:

• Confirm in the organiser’s notice what separates this class from Division I before choosing your text
• Pick a verse short enough to write three or four times in a sitting without tiring
• Trace a trusted model sheet once, then write from memory, so your hand learns the connections
• Drill long hairlines on scrap paper at the start of each practice session
• Draft the layout in pencil on a rough copy to settle where every line will break
• Keep brush, ink stick and paper the same from rehearsal to final copy
• Leave a day between your last practice and the final sheet so you judge it with fresh eyes
• If you lose, compare your sheet with the placed ones for spacing first, because layout is the quickest thing to improve

Frequently asked questions

Is Kana Division II judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is Kana Division II harder than Division I?

The source does not say. The template simply lists two kana classes; read the organiser’s notice to see how they differ.

Do I write in front of the judges?

No. It is a submission class, so you send in an unmounted sheet and a jury judges the paper.

Can I enter both kana classes?

That is the organiser’s decision. The template lists them separately, so check the notice for any limit on entries per person.

What size of paper should I use?

Use whatever size the organiser’s notice requires; the template does not fix a sheet size.

How are the marks decided?

The source prints no scale, so the template uses a 100-mark default. An organiser should agree and publish the criteria before entries open.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full handwriting & calligraphy judging criteria guide, or browse every off stage competition item.