Why Were Kohitsugire Cut?

—Destruction or Inheritance? The Deep Layers of Japanese Calligraphic Culture

In museums and exhibitions, we often encounter fragments known as kohitsugire—sections of classical calligraphy displayed as independent works.
Originally, these writings existed as complete handscrolls or bound booklets.
Why, then, were such precious works deliberately cut apart?

Was this simply an act of damage?
Or was it an intentional cultural practice?

Kohitsugire are not accidental remnants. They are complex and deeply meaningful creations born from Japan’s unique calligraphic culture.

What Are Kohitsugire? — The Meaning of Being a Fragment

Kohitsugire refers to intentionally cut fragments of classical calligraphy, mainly from the Heian to Kamakura periods. Famous examples include the Kōya-gire, the Sekidobon Kokin Wakashū, and the Masu-shikishi.

What is crucial is that kohitsugire are not random survivals.
In most cases, they were divided:

• Deliberately
• For appreciation and study
• Based on aesthetic value

In other words, kohitsugire are selected fragments, not accidental losses.

Why Not Preserve Them as Complete Scrolls?

From a modern perspective, it feels natural to think that these works should have been preserved in their original form. However, in premodern Japan, written works were not considered “fixed, finished objects.”

Calligraphy was understood as something to be:

• Read
• Appreciated
• Gifted and transmitted

Its form could change depending on use and era.
Classical calligraphy was treated as a living cultural asset, not a static artifact.

The Maturation of Viewing Culture — Learning to “See a Single Character”

Behind the emergence of kohitsugire lies a transformation in how calligraphy was viewed.

Over time, emphasis shifted toward:

• Line quality over overall composition
• Brushwork over textual content
• A single moment’s expression over narrative continuity

As a result, extracting and appreciating:

• The most beautiful line
• The most spirited character

came to be seen as more valuable than viewing an entire scroll.

Kohitsugire were products of a highly refined culture of aesthetic appreciation.

Kohitsumi: An Intellectual Practice

The formation of kohitsugire is closely tied to a scholarly practice known as kohitsumi—the connoisseurship of classical calligraphy.

Kohitsumi involves examining:

• Calligraphic style
• Brush technique
• Paper quality
• Line spacing
• Ink tone

to determine authorship and period.

Through this process, the portion where the essence of the work appeared most vividly was identified and cut.
A kohitsugire can thus be seen as a crystallization of connoisseurship and aesthetic judgment.

Cutting as Preservation and Transmission

Ironically, many works survived because they were cut.

If kept as complete scrolls, they faced risks such as:

• Wear and abrasion
• Insect damage
• Fire

By being divided and dispersed, fragments were preserved across different locations and collections.

Kohitsugire functioned simultaneously as:

• Acts of destruction
• Acts of preservation
• Strategies for survival through dispersal

The Japanese Aesthetic of the “Part”

Underlying kohitsugire is a distinctly Japanese aesthetic sensibility:

• Resonance over completeness
• Symbol over totality
• Imagination directed toward what is left unsaid

This sensibility appears across Japanese culture—in waka poetry, the tea ceremony, gardens, and narrative picture scrolls.

Kohitsugire were not seen as “works that lost their whole,” but as devices that open space for imagination.

What the Kōya-gire Reveal by Being Cut

The Kōya-gire stand as a symbolic example of kohitsugire culture.
Precisely because they are fragments, they convey:

• Tension between lines
• The breath of empty space
• Emotional presence within each character

Had they remained intact scrolls, individual characters might never have received such intense attention.

Conclusion — Kohitsugire Are Not a “Destroyed Culture”

From a modern conservation standpoint, kohitsugire may appear to be acts of destruction.
Yet within Japanese calligraphic culture, they were acts of:

• Selection
• Division
• Transmission to future generations

Kohitsugire represent a profoundly intellectual and aesthetic decision—one made to allow calligraphy to live on into the future.