知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Not Knowing is Buddha

The proverb has two senses and every modern dictionary carries both. The kind one is its face: to know is to suffer, and the one who does not know has a Buddha's calm, which is where the English ignorance is bliss comes in. The other is its use, said with a smile of the one person in the room who does not know, from the kabuki stage of 1864 to today.

No source names where the proverb began; it is first found as a pun in a haikai verse by 重貞 in 松江重頼's anthology 毛吹草, prefaced in 1638, and Ihara Saikaku first put it in prose in 1682, of a blind man who cannot see what is happening around him.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 知らぬが仏.

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.