今を生きる ima wo ikiru Live the Moment

今を生きる (ima wo ikiru): live the moment, live the now.

Not to live in the present but to live it: the now is the thing lived, not the time one lives in, and the particle を is what makes it so. It is carpe diem in plain modern Japanese, seize the day, and it is also a Buddhist sentence from another direction, the now that is already past even as one says it and is lived anyway. A person who hangs it for a fresh start has the first; a person who hangs it for attention to the present has the second; the four characters hold both, and which is yours.

It is the phrase for a fresh start.

Behind the English is Horace's carpe diem, pluck the day, from the ode that says even as we speak envious time has fled. The 1989 film Dead Poets Society built a story on it, and its Japanese title is いまを生きる, this phrase in kana. The four characters were Japanese before the film and from another direction: a religious writer of 1936 used them for the Buddhist now, the now that is already past even as one says it.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 今を生きる.

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? Tell us when you order and we will include your message.

Shipping is calculated at checkout from your address; within the United States it is $13 to $22. 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

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 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