Kana Calligraphy Scroll

This kakejiku is a sample of the Kana Calligraphy Style. It is framed with a darker gold Karakusa Ichimonji with a Red Kireji. This calligraphy style was developed in and is native to Japan. It is usually written on a special type of paper called Ganpi, which is thin and very complex to frame because it easily tear and rips when wet.

Often times the offset of the lines is done to emphasize certain words in the passage or to convey breaks in poetry. This sample was written by Ryugyoku for a monthly submitted work to her calligraphy society.

For this scroll I used a smaller jikubou, about 6 bun in size and did not insert jikusaki onto the scroll. The Kakehimo is the Takuboku design.

Dimensions of the scroll as follows:
Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun Size in Millimeters Size in Inches


天 Ten 93 281.79 11.09

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 7 21.21 0.84

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 72 218.16 8.59

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 106 321.18 12.64

柱 Pillars 20 60.6 2.39

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 4 12.12 0.48

地 Chi 44 133.32 5.25

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 112 339.36 13.36

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 254 769.62 30.30

Welchko -- Last Name Translation

This was a beautiful scroll done for a family name. Yoshimi Maples translated the name Welchko into Japanese. The characters were as follows:

Ue 上 - Means Above, Up or over...however it is also an expression for Heaven

Ru (The character below the Ue) Means to live or exist.

Chi 知 Means to know

Ko 子 Means child(ren)

The direct translation for this was "to know the child(ren) lives in heaven". As she was writing this, Yoshimi felt inspired to think about the Savior, Jesus Christ. Hence, can be either your own children or the One Child.

The writing was done in Block Print Japanese Calligraphy called Kaisho. Please see other scroll pictures in the blog to compare to other writing styles.

The black and the tan in the cloth was perfectly accented by the antique, wood jikusaki (end caps) and the tan and cream fuchin (Hanging ceramics with tassels). The scroll size was about 3 feet by 1.5 feet and one of the most beautiful works to date.

For your own name translation, please contact us at info@customjapanesecalligraphy.com