Noone? Right then.
Japanese Calligraphy is called
Shodo.
Basic equipment is made up of a Fude, Shitajiki, Bunchin, Suzuri, Sumi and Hanshi.
Fude is just a brush, well a calligraphy brush. They come in all sorts of different sizes, the smaller ones being normally to write your name with.
Shitajiki is a soft mat that you put the paper on when doing the writing. I guess it stops the ink going into the surface below (table etc) and gives a nice surface to write on. A bit like felt.
Bunchin is a metal block that stops the paper from moving about, blowing away. A paper weight
Suzuri is where you put ink, either out of a bottle or from a sumi. Its made of something... stone or metal im not sure, but its a little heavy.
Sumi is that that black thing. You put a little water in the suzuri and then rub the sumi on the suzuri until you get the consistency you want. I use this if im going to do a final run of a piece.
And finally
Hanshi is the special thin paper you write on.
Theres different styles to writing in shodo, from basic square characters (kaisho) up to stylised artistic cursive character (sosho, i like this but i still suck at it :S)
Oh and being left handed doesnt help
