Fine Japanese Calligraphy

The Art of Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase

家内安全 kanai anzen Peace and Prosperity in the Household

The household kept safe: a prayer for the family, and the scroll for a new home.

by Master Eri Takase
Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Eri Takase received the rank of Shihan, master, from two calligraphy societies, the Bokuteki-kai and Bunka-shodō, and won best-of-category awards in all-Japan national competitions. She has created calligraphy for people around the world for more than thirty years, and with your order she will be creating calligraphy for you.

A brushed scroll with Master Takase's brush on its rest, an inkstone and ink stick, a small iron water pot and red seal paste

In a ritual as old as calligraphy itself, Master Takase prepares the ink, meditatively rubbing the ink stick against the stone until it reaches the perfect consistency for the paper. Then, properly loading the brush with ink, she brushes your scroll. And only when the scroll is just right and meets her approval, she signs it and affixes her seal, completing your original scroll.

12 1/4" × 43" (31 × 109 cm) Japanese Scrolls

The scrolls have woven damask borders and special layered Japanese paper (washi), designed to last generations by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, with whom we have worked for over two decades.

The roller at the foot of a hanging scrollThe corner where the paper, the gold band and the damask border meet
Gift-Ready

Your scroll arrives boxed, with a printed insert describing the words in detail.

Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it with the insert.

Ships in 1-3 days from Washington State

Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days.

Your scroll ships from Master Takase's studio in Washington State. Shipping is calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide.

30-day money-back guarantee

Every order is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If your scroll arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping.

$220

Explanation

家内安全 is the wish that no one in a family meets accident or illness. It is said for the people inside one house, and it is one of the wishes an amulet is issued for, the amulet a family keeps on its house-shelf or in its Buddhist altar. The word says safe.

The English title also says prosperity. In the thousand-visits prayer kept at the Kansai shrines, 家内安全 is paired with 商売繁昌, a thriving trade.

家内安全 is composed of the word 家内 (read kanai) meaning "household; one's family" and 安全 (read anzen) meaning "safety; security".

家内安全 is a prayer for a household's safety, first found, in the National Diet Library's full-text search of classical books, in a Muromachi priest's prayer of about 1400, kept in a later copy, and printed on shrine and temple amulets by the late Edo period.

Learn More About These Words

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