Bonsai Club of Utah Display Lecture

Yesterday, I had the privilege of being invited to give a lecture on the display system called Gaddou to the Bonsai Club of Utah. It was a great evening and kind of long for them. I love to be able to share the information about the display side of bonsai. I think many of the club members were excited about the opportunity to do something new. Hopefully, they are invigorated to go out and create wonderful displays with the tools and information that they learned.

I was very impressed with some of the bonsai brought to the meeting. It probably would have been better to get some more hands on experience with setting up displays, but the foundation and knowledge is in place for them to make the outlines.

Butsudou 仏道 Kakejiku

This scroll is an order from a return customer. It says Butsudou in a semi-cursive style, and was written by Ryugyoku (Yoshimi Yamada Maples) I was speaking with Ken White, an adjunct professor of Asian History and Far East Religious studies at Utah Valley University and BYU about this phrase. He stated that this was a term that preceded the word 仏教 Bukkyou our Buddhism.

I wanted to do this scroll in a very simple yet elegant fashion. So I did this in the Fukuro Hyougu style. It has Red Suji of 1.5 bun surrounding the entire artwork. I used a Navy cloth and Navy Hanging string. It is completed with a plastic ivory jikusaki.

I think it turned out very simple, yet refined. Perhaps a reminder of the life of a Buddhist practitioner.

Scroll Dimensions as follows.

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	95	11.33
筋	Ue Ichimonji	1.5	0.18
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	78	9.30
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	112	13.36
柱	Pillars	15	1.79
地	Chi	55	6.56
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	111	13.24
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	265	31.61

Aikido Wallscroll or Kakejiku

Didn't get what you wanted for Christmas? Post holiday sale for a scroll anywhere in the US for $45.00. (Includes shipping and taxes). The caveat, I will choose the cloth. Size is approximately 2 feet long by 10 inches wide....contact sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com for details.

Commissioned Aikidou Kakejiku or Wallscroll

This scroll was commissioned for an Aikidou trainer in the Southern US. It says in English, Through the virtue of humble training, understanding of Aiki is acquired naturally.
I had a difficult time obtaining the original Japanese saying, if there is an original quote accorded to Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikidou. So I received help on the translation from two sources, my wife and another gentleman. It reads in Japanese, 謙虚に鍛錬をつめば合気の悟りは自ずと得られる　(Kenkyo ni tanren wo tsumeba, aiki no satori wa onozu to erareru.)
Just for informations sake, there were 4 iterations provided by Mr. Akamatsu.  Then my wife took the translations, and melded them into syllabic form that would work for calligraphy and the lines provided. It is written in the Gyousho, semi-cursive style by Ryugyoku Yamada.

The scroll was made by myself, it is a three step style scroll called sandan hyougu. The ichimonji is a a wave pattern with gold and silver. The chuumawashi, intermediate cloth is a burnt orange, with large ivy karakusa (arabesque) pattern. This cloth is a pure silk (Shouken) The Ten/Chi is a dried reed color shike silk. It is completed with a jikusaki that has a red lacquer, and machined edge, and the hanging string is a light green with gold (kinka).

Keiko (Training) Scroll

This scroll is for a European martial artist. He brought to my attention a new Japanese word that I was wikipedia in Japanese.
unfamiliar with. 稽古　Keiko. It is a term for training. I was familiar with the lay terms for training such as 練習　Renshu, 実習　Jisshu and 訓練　Kunren. However, this is a term almost exclusively used for Martial Arts or bujutsu training. You can read about it at this link on

The scroll is Hanshi size with a black kireji. The red ichimonji was to help create a strong visual barrier between the writing and the cloth. It is written in the Gyousho (Semi-cursive) style by my wife Ryugyoku (Yoshimi Yamada Maples). It is finished with a Shitan (Rosewood) jikusaki and a Kon (navy) kakehimo or hanging string.

If you would like a custom scroll made as a gift for your dojo, school, or Japanese culture loving family member please email to sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com

Dimensions of this scroll are as follows:

Kakejiku for Wife

Yoshimi had some particular writing that she enjoyed and thought it was some of her best work. She asked me to put it into a scroll for her. This is the result. I used a green Shike cloth, with plastic ivory jikusaki, and a light gold hanging string. I love the simplicity, and informal design used in this Maru Hyougu scroll with the formal Kaisho (Block Print) writing.

This wallscroll is not for sale. If you would like to find out more please email to sales@customjapanesecalligrahy.com or visit my website and download the scroll design workbook in PDF at www.customjapanesecalligraphy.com

Trinity Kakejiku Scroll for Viewing Stone

This scroll is a large Japanese size paper called Joufuku. It is for a Bonsai customer in Southern California. He wanted something that was more spiritual in nature for one of his viewing stones. It reads Trinity, and then the three small words underneath are Fother, Holy Ghost, and Son. In Japanese it reads Sanmi Ittai Tenpu Seirei Onko It is written in the Gyousho, Semi-Cursive style by Yoshimi Yamada Maples.

The cloth is a Benberugu Silk, with a Pine branch looking arabesque. The Ichimonji is a gold on white small flower karakusa. The Hanging string is a light gold, and the jikusaki is a Kokutan Enshu.

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	12	1.43
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	108	12.88
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	445	53.08
柱	Pillars	20	2.39
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	7	0.84
地	Chi	75	8.95
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	148	17.66
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	653	77.90