Semi-Cursive · gyōsho 行書 · VS3C
Semi-Cursive or gyōsho (行書) styles are a simplified and softer form of the kaisho styles. Gyōsho styles can be read by most Japanese.
In this world of ours, We walk above hell, Gazing at flowers[1] yo no naka wa jigoku no ue no hanami kana 世の中は 地獄の上の 花見哉 issa 一茶
This world is flower-viewing on the roof of hell.
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.
Your scroll ships from Master Takase's studio in Washington State. Shipping is calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide.
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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
Kobayashi Issa's verse defines this world in one breath. Life is a spring party under the cherry blossoms, held on the roof of hell. The poem does not tell anyone to leave the party. Readers have heard a Buddhist sentence in it, and laughter in its tears.
In the Japanese, 地獄の上の is on top of hell, its roof or its lid. 花見 is the spring outing with food and drink under the trees. The line has no verb of motion: the world simply is the party.
References:
[1] After R. H. Blyth, A History of Haiku, vol. 1 (Hokuseido Press, 1963), p. 367.
Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 wrote the verse early in 1812 as the hell entry of a set on the six realms of rebirth, composed turn by turn with the priest-poet 鶴老, and entered it in his books Kabuban 株番 and Shichiban nikki 七番日記, the diary placing it in the second month of that year (13 March to 11 April 1812).
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 世の中は地獄の上の花見哉.
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