Fine Japanese Calligraphy

The Art of Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase

自業自得 jigō jitoku You Reap What You Sow

One's own deeds, one's own fruit.

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

What you did comes back to you, and no one else did this to you; 得 is to receive, so the fruit is received, not gained. The words are a sutra's, translated into Chinese in 539, where a hell-warden speaks them to a sinner wailing in the fire, and asks him why he wails; a Japanese monk wrote them of himself about 1213, and Hakuin sang them to mill-girls in 1760 with the seed and the field, which is where the English harvest meets the Japanese.

The sutra says it of good deeds too; Japanese usage says it of bad ones, so the words are a warning in Japanese and can be a promise in English.

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 自業自得.