孤独 kodoku Solitude

孤独 is being alone, with no one to share your thoughts. In Japanese it leans more toward loneliness than the English word solitude does. 天涯孤独 (tengai kodoku) is to be alone in the world, with no family at all.

The Japanese word 孤独 meaning "Solitude" is composed of the kanji 孤 (read ko) meaning "alone" and 独 (read doku) meaning "single; alone".

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.

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