能ある鷹は爪を隠す nō aru taka wa tsume wo kakusu The Hawk with Talent Hides its Talons

The Hawk with Talent Hides its Talons in Japanese is 能ある鷹は爪を隠す which is read nō aru taka wa tsume wo kakusu

能ある鷹は爪を隠す (nō aru taka wa tsume o kakusu): the hawk with skill hides its talons.

Real ability does not display itself; the hawk does not raise its talons to threaten, and the proverb is about restraint more than concealment. By 1641 a chronicle of the Hōjō of Odawara calls it a popular saying whose origin no one knows, and Edo writers used it every way: Bakin as praise, Gennai as a warning that the quiet ones are the swindlers, Atsutane objecting that in a blind world the quiet hawk is taken for a dead one. The cat that hides its claws is the same proverb with another animal.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 能ある鷹は爪を隠す.

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The scrolls are 12 1/4" W × 43" H (31 × 109 cm) with real silk borders and Japanese paper that are layered so the scroll hangs straight and will not warp over time. The scrolls themselves are made by Sankō (株式会社三幸) in Gifu prefecture, which has been making high quality scrolls since 1947, and we have worked with Sankō for over two decades.

Eri Takase was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and holds the rank of Shihan, the highest rank in Japanese calligraphy, from the Bokuteki-kai and the Bunka-shodo. About Master Takase