Eri's Choice · VD4B
Eri's Choice is a design that does not keep strictly to one style; it is Master Takase's own artistic choice.
善は急げ
zen wa isoge
If It's Worth Doing, It's Worth Doing Promptly
Hurry the good.
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 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.
Explanation
善 is a good thing to do and 急げ is the imperative of 急ぐ, to hurry, so the proverb is a command: do a good thing at once, before the chance is lost. It is in a haikai handbook of 1638 with a second half, 悪は延べよ (aku wa nobeyo), put off the bad. Both forms have been current since. From Saikaku and Chikamatsu around 1700 to the uncle in Sōseki's Kokoro of 1914, its speakers use it to hurry a bargain or a match.
English equivalents such as strike while the iron is hot are about acting now; the Japanese keeps the goodness of the thing as its object, which makes it a moral maxim and not a counsel of speed.
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 善は急げ.
