仕方無い shikatanai It Can't Be Helped

Both are 仕方が無い in the shapes people say it, the first with the particle clipped, the second with 仕様 for 仕方, two words for a way of doing; the dictionaries note that 仕様が無い is now mostly pronounced shō ga nai. The sense is the same in all three: a thing is beyond changing and the speaker has stopped looking for a way. Of a person the phrase means hopeless; of a feeling, unbearably. Both forms are on this page, each design with its own characters.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 仕方無い.

仕様 is a way of doing, like 仕方, and the dictionaries note that the phrase is now mostly pronounced shō ga nai, so this design's romaji is the spelling and shō ga nai is the speech. It is the same idiom as 仕方が無い in the form people actually say, with the same three senses: nothing can be done; hopeless, of a person; unbearably, of a feeling. The design's words are the first sense: there is no way, so accept it.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 仕様が無い.

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.