Block · kaisho 楷書 · VB4C
Block or kaisho (楷書) styles are the most common and recognizable styles. Block styles are easily read and are noted for their angular form and their vertical and horizontal lines.
In the moonlight,
the color and scent of the wisteria,
seems so far away
tsuki ni tōku
oboyuru fuji no
iroka kana
月に遠く
おぼゆる藤の
色香かな
buson
蕪村
Under the moon, the wisteria's color and scent seem far.
by Master 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.
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.
Gift-Ready
Your scroll arrives boxed, with a printed insert describing the haiku 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.
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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.
Explanation
月に遠く is far from the moon, or far, under the moon, and the verse turns on which; おぼゆる is the classical seems, is felt to be, the only verb in it; 藤 is wisteria, the late-spring season word, and 色香 is one word for its color and scent together; かな closes it. In 1903 three men of Shiki's circle read Yosa Buson's verse together and argued what the distance is: Meisetsu drew a triangle of moon, wisteria and poet; Hekigotō said the geometry is beside the point and the verse praises the hour; Kyoshi said the color is blurred in moonlight and seems far, and that the scent only seems far because the rhythm carries the word along. Meisetsu said at the meeting that were the moon bright, the flowers would seem near, and because it is faint, they seem far; Reiyoshi repeated it in 1921. Our reading follows them: the verse praises the dimness. Blyth translated it twice and took each side once. The English is Timothy L. Jackowski's, made for Takase Studios.
The verse is Buson's, one of the hokku he brought to the verse-writing sessions of his circle in 1780, and it was first printed in 1800 in the anthology 新五子稿.
Learn More About This Haiku
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 月に遠くおぼゆる藤の色香かな.
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Buson - From far and near, Hearing the sounds of waterfalls, Young leavesをちこちに滝の音聞く若葉哉 ochikochi ni taki no oto kiku wakaba kana
Buson - In loneliness, there is joy too, An autumn eveさびしさのうれしくも有秋の暮 sabishisa no ureshiku mo ari aki no kure
Buson - A flash of lightning, The sound of dew, Dripping down the bamboos稲妻にこぼるる音や竹の露 inazuma ni koboruru oto ya take no tsuyu
