Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness in Japanese Calligraphy

夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness

The orchid at night, hidden in its scent; the flower is white.

An evening orchid Hidden in its scent The flower's whiteness	yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi	夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し
Buson	buson	蕪村

夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し (yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi): the orchid at night, hidden in its scent; the flower is white. 夜の蘭 is the orchid at night, 蘭 an autumn season word; 香にかくれてや is hidden in its scent, with や an exclamation at the hiding; 花白し is a plain statement, the flower is white, the one visible thing given back at the end. In the dark the scent hides the plant, and the white flower is the one thing still seen. Its first print sets it in the autumn section, after the morning-glory verses. The English follows R. H. Blyth's, from his Haiku of 1952.

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness (夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness 夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi Vertical Cursive VC6B

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness (夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し) in Design style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness 夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi Vertical Design VD5B

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness 夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi Vertical Design VD6B

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness 夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi Vertical Design VD6C

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness (夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness 夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi Vertical Semi-Cursive VS5C

More about 夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し

The verse is Buson's, first printed in 1784 in the 蕪村句集, the book of his verse that his pupil Kitō published for the first anniversary of his death.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し.

About the Designs

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

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Your purchase includes a personal-use license: use the design as a tattoo reference, frame it, engrave it, print it for yourself, or make it into a gift. For more information see Licensing, which also covers commercial-use options that may be purchased separately.

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Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness (yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi)

Haiku by Buson on a traditional Japanese Scroll by Master Eri Takase.

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Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness as a hand-brushed scroll

Master Takase personally brushes your scroll when you order, and it bears her red seal and her signature. The scroll has real silk borders and layered Japanese paper, so it hangs straight, and it arrives ready to display.