Cursive · sōsho 草書 · VC5B
Cursive or sōsho (草書) styles are the most simplified styles and Master Takase's favorite. While very beautiful, these styles are often difficult to read even by specialists.
決して降伏しない
kesshite kōfukushinai
Never Surrender
Never surrender, a resolution rather than a shout.
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
決して降伏しない says: whatever comes, I will not give in. Like the English, it names no one who refuses, so it is a vow for whoever says it. 決して with a negative is never, by no means, and 降伏 is surrender, to admit defeat and submit. The verb is in its plain form, the one Japanese uses for what a person means to do, so it reads as something already decided.
The English cry is older than Churchill: a Boston song of liberty in 1768 has the sons of the brave who will never surrender, and Travis wrote I shall never surrender or retreat from the Alamo in 1836; the Japanese sentence is in print by 1904, in a lecture's vow to fight on until the body lies on the battlefield, and was rendering Churchill's line of June 1940 by 1944.
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 決して降伏しない.
