和 wa Harmony

和 is harmony and peace, people and things at ease with one another. The same character also stands for Japan itself, as in 和食, Japanese Cuisine (washoku), and 和室 (washitsu), a Japanese-style room. The two-character word for harmony as accord is 調和 (chōwa).

調和 is harmony in the sense of accord: parts that fit together and agree. It can also be a verb, to be in harmony with something. For harmony in music, Japanese uses another word, 和声 (wasei). The second character, 和 (wa), is a word for harmony and peace on its own.

The Japanese word 調和 meaning "Harmony" is composed of the kanji 調 (read chō) meaning "investigate; prepare; tune; tone" and 和 (read wa) meaning "harmony; peace; Japanese style".

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.

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.

Your PDF is available for download the moment your order completes, and a copy is attached to your emailed receipt.

If you need your design again later, ask us for it and we will send it.