Jiun · 自運 · VD5B
Jiun (自運) is the calligrapher's word for writing from one's own invention. As a Shihan, Master Takase has a hand of her own, and these designs are that hand: she draws freely on the classic scripts to create exactly the look she wants.
一生懸命
isshōkenmei
Do One's Very Best
To do a thing as if your life depended on it, to give everything you have.
Master Takase creates this beautiful scroll when your order is placed, personally preparing the ink and brushing your art, which proudly bears her signature and seal. This is an original work of art.
Description
一生懸命 (isshōkenmei): to do a thing as if your life depended on it, to give everything you have.
Everything you have, given as if your life hung on it: the word for the effort that holds nothing back, in a student, an athlete, a worker or a fighter. Inside it is an older picture, one place, one life, the single fief a warrior would die to keep, so the word can mean a whole life staked on one thing as much as a day's hard trying, and which you take it for is yours. The scroll brushes the word as every Japanese reader now sees it; the older spelling, 一所懸命, is the same word, and both are correct.
The four-character idiom 一生懸命 is composed of the words 一生 (read isshō) meaning "one's whole life; the greatest of one's life" and 懸命 (read kenmei) meaning "eagerness; risk one's life".
A Japanese word, first written in the 古事談 (1212–15) as 一所懸命, the one fief a warrior would stake his life on; respelled 一生懸命, a whole life, on the Edo puppet stage from 1734, and the newspapers' and broadcasters' spelling today.
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 一生懸命.
Delivery
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days. It ships by USPS Priority Mail from Master Takase's studio in Washington State, boxed and ready to hang, with a printed page giving the art's English, romaji and Japanese.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it.
Shipping is calculated at checkout from your address; within the United States it is $13 to $23. We ship worldwide, and any import charges for your country are shown at checkout before you pay.
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. Refund policy
About Our Scrolls
Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase brushes your scroll by hand when you order it. Each scroll bears her red seal, 英利, and her signature.
The scrolls are 12 1/4" W × 43" H (31 × 109 cm), with woven damask borders and layered Japanese paper, designed to last generations. The scrolls themselves are made by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, and we have worked with them 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
