Wallscroll 掛け軸 for Engagement/Wedding Gift

This scroll is for a customer’s engagement/anniversary gift to her fiancée. This is written in the かな kana style, which is a Native calligraphy style of Japan. It is a poem, and in English it reads, “You are my Sun and Stars, the light of my Heart, the moon in my Dark Night.” In Japanese it reads, 「あなたは私の太陽であり　星であり　心を照らす光　そして暗い夜に浮かぶ月」Anata wa Watakushi no Taiyou de ari, hoshi de ari, Kokoro wo terasu hikari, soshite Kurai yoru ni uakubu tsuki.


My wife was busy at this time, so I had the calligraphy done by Natsuko Horinouchi. She is a Japanese calligrapher, who lives in Germany. I thought she did a very good job, and offset the lines slightly to emphasize the meanings of the lines.

The scroll is done in a light red, to symbolize love. Because this is a gift to her fiancée, for the Ichimonji I used a cloth that has the characters 福 fuku and 寿 kotobuki embroidered in the cloth. These two words mean Happiness & Congratulations respectively. I made it this way so that they will be able to celebrate many happy years together. The scroll is finished with the 桜花 ouka or Cherry Blossom colored Kakehimo. This is a light pink, and it is a good complimentary color to the light red. The scroll is also completed with 紫檀shitan Rosewood jikusaki.

Dimensions of the scroll are as follows:

Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun (Inches)

天 Ten 106 (12.64)

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 11 (1.31)

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 78 (9.30)

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 113 (13.48)

柱 Pillars 20 (2.39)

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 7 (0.84)

地 Chi 80 (9.54)

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 118 (14.08)

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 317 (37.82)

摩周道場 Mashu Dojo Kakejiku

This scroll was commissioned as a gift to a Dojo called the Mashu Dojo. At first I thought it had reference to a Koryu system based in the Satsuma region of Japan, but it actually is in reference to a lake in Hokkaido, which you can read about at this link.

It is written in the gyousho semi-cursive style by Yoshimi Yamada Maples (Ryugoku). The scroll is unique in that the reference is to a lake, I inserted fish into the Ichimonji to add to the meaning. It is completed with a Rosewood (紫檀) Jikusaki and the Kogecha, Navy Hanging string.

Dimensions as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	110	13.12
上一文字	Ue Ichimonji	17.5	2.09
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	54	6.44
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	218	26.01
柱	Pillars	25	2.98
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	13	1.55
地	Chi	80	9.54
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	104	12.41
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	438.5	52.31

Jiko Ryu Karate Wallscroll

This custom scroll will be going to the United Kingdom. It turned out very nicely. I especially love the deep gold on gold Ichimonji of this scroll. It provides a mellow, yet distinct and royal contrast. It has a beautiful and simple navy silk cloth with plastic ivory jikusaki and a Gold Brown Hanging String.  The writing is in a Kaisho style written by Yoshimi Maples. (Ryugyoku) If you are interested in having a custom scroll designed and made for you please contact to sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com Dimensions of the scroll below.          Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun (Inches)

天 Ten 86 (10.26)

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 8 (0.95)

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 54 (6.44)

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 218 (26.01)

柱 Pillars 18 (2.15)

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 5 (0.60)

地 Chi 58 (6.92)

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 90 (10.74)

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 375 (44.73)

桐箱 Kiribako - Storage Box for Kakejiku

Lately, many of my customers have been ordering Kiribako, which is a storage box for scrolls. Some sites claim they are made of paulonia wood, but the ones I purchase from Japan are made of Cedar. This wood is a natural repellent to moths, which like to ruin scrolls in storage. They are beautifully and custom handcrafted items, that increase the value of your gift. This particular box is for the scroll, posted as a Last Name Translation.

If you have any questions please contact to sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com

Dojo Pictures

This customer ordered two scrolls for their dojo and several shikishi for student rank advancement awards. I love it when customers provide the details of their custom handmade kakejiku or hanging wallscrolls.

Last Name Translated into Japanese and Mounted into a Scroll

I was really pleased with the way this kakejiku turned out. The customer selected a beautiful cloth for this wallscroll, and I was really pleased with the look and the feel of this. The last name to translate was Franssen. My wife came up with two, and the customer chose this one. It means 1,000 years of peace. Technically, the first two is no violence, but we used some liberty in having a more positive meaning, which would work in Japanese. It is written in a Semi-cursive Gyousho style by Yoshimi Maples. (Ryugyoku) The new cloths from Japan are very beautiful. You can see the detail, and the beauty of the intricate patterns in the kireji (silk) up close. When something turns out this nice it really makes me happy. There is also a kiribako for this scroll which I will take another picture later on. If you are interested in having a custom scroll made for your home or business, e-mail to sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com Dimensions of the scroll as follows.

Name in Kanji Name in English Size Bun (Inches)

天 Ten 105 (12.53)

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 11 (1.31)

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 77 (9.19)

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 107 (12.76)

柱 Pillars 26 (3.10)

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 8 (0.95)

地 Chi 70 (8.35)

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 129 (15.39)

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 301 (35.91)

Kakejiku of Kappa

***This is not an Akutagawa Painting. It is based upon the painting of the Kappa by Akutagawa. It was painted with calligraphy done by Horinouchi, Natsuko. A sumie and shodo artist located in Germany. This was ordered as a gift for someone back east.

You can read about the legend of the Kappa at this link to Wikipedia.
Although it says in this article, that it is specific to Saga Prefecture, it was a constant and recurring image, along with the Game, in the town of Yatsushiro in Kumamoto prefecture where I lived for 7 months in 1994.

I really enjoyed making this scroll. It was a challenge due to the size, but also the theme. I chose the Ichimonji to represent the flowing water in which it lived, and the green/yellow silk to represent the grassy/mossy banks that surround some of the rivers that I saw in the countryside. The kakehimo, is hard to see, but it is a light green, (Kinka) to complement the green cloth. The dark Ebony (kokutan) jikusaki really match well with the Earthtones of brown, and tan in the Fuchin. I used the Brown hanging string to blend invisibly onto the jikusaki.

Scroll Dimensions as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	114	13.60
上一文字	Ue Ichimonji	15	1.79
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	158	18.85
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	290	34.59
柱	Pillars	9	1.07
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	12	1.43
地	Chi	75	8.95
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	176	21.00
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	506	60.36