Fine Japanese Calligraphy

The Art of Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase

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Home › Words › Japanese Proverbs › 知らぬが仏 (shiranu ga hotoke)

Not Knowing is Buddha

知らぬが仏 (shiranu ga hotoke)

知らぬが仏 (shiranu ga hotoke): not knowing is Buddha. The proverb has two senses and every 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. Old enough that a haikai poet punned on it in 1638, it has been the し card of the proverb karuta ever since, drawn as a stone Buddha with a dragonfly on its head.

Philology of 知らぬが仏

Not Knowing is Buddha (知らぬが仏) in Block style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase
Not Knowing is Buddha 知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Block Vertical VB3C
Not Knowing is Buddha (知らぬが仏) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase
Not Knowing is Buddha 知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Cursive Vertical VC4B
Not Knowing is Buddha (知らぬが仏) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase
Not Knowing is Buddha 知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Semi-Cursive Vertical VS3C
Not Knowing is Buddha (知らぬが仏) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase
Not Knowing is Buddha 知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Semi-Cursive Vertical VS4C
Not Knowing is Buddha (知らぬが仏) in Block style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase
Not Knowing is Buddha 知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Block Horizontal HB3A
Not Knowing is Buddha (知らぬが仏) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase
Not Knowing is Buddha 知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Cursive Horizontal HC3A
Not Knowing is Buddha (知らぬが仏) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase
Not Knowing is Buddha 知らぬが仏 shiranu ga hotoke Semi-Cursive Horizontal HS4A

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

Also available as a hand-brushed Japanese scroll

Master Calligrapher Eri Takase creates each scroll personally, hand-brushed to order on traditional Japanese paper.

$220

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