Block · kaisho 楷書 · VB4C
Block or kaisho (楷書) styles are the most common and recognizable styles. Block styles are easily read and are noted for their angular form and their vertical and horizontal lines.
吐く息一つにも生命が宿り
hakuiki hitotsu ni mo seimei ga yadori
Life in Every Breath
Life in every breath, Katsumoto's line in The Last Samurai.
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
吐く息一つにも生命が宿り (hakuiki hitotsu ni mo seimei ga yadori): life in every breath; in even one breath breathed out, life dwells.
吐く息一つにも生命が宿り is a sentence left open at its end. 吐く息 is a breath breathed out, and 一つにも is even in one. 生命 is life. 宿り is to dwell, in a form that does not close, so the thought runs on past the last word. Each half is plain, ordinary Japanese.
The English is Katsumoto's line in the film The Last Samurai (2003), Life in every breath, words already in English print in a poem of 1816, spoken among the cherry blossoms as he tells what Bushido is, and the Japanese renders it: in even one breath breathed out, life dwells.
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 吐く息一つにも生命が宿り.
