Custom Scroll for Aikido Dojo

This scroll was made for a customer who is enrolled in our scroll referral program. This is a program which allows one to earn a commission on referral sales for scrolls. This Aikidou dojo, located in the Western United States, wanted to provide a retirement gift for one of their Sensei’s.   he had a scroll commissioned.

This Sensei’s nickname was Kissaki, which means point of the sword, which is written prominently on the right hand side. On the left hand side is written, “To renew our Aikidou fighting spirit.” And the translation only uses Characters. The customer was concerned about my use of Fighting spirit, in that Aikidou has a principle to only use the martial art in self-defense. But my use of Toukon was to imply not to give up in the face of adversity or trial, in other words, to fight through the difficult battles of our life, and not meant to go out and start fights.

The calligraphy was written by Ryugyoku, Yoshimi Yamada Maples in the Semi-cursive style called gyousho. The scroll is made with a benberugu cloth which has both silk and cotton. It has a flower karakusa arabesque. The Ichimonji is a gold on orange with a cloud pattern. The Jikusaki is wood, and is a Shitan stain. The hanging string is usukin, or light gold.

Dimensions of the scroll as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	87	10.38
上一文字	Ue Ichimonji	10	1.19
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	102	12.17
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	440	52.49
柱	Pillars	22	2.62
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	6	0.72
地	Chi	50	5.96
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	146	17.42
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	593	70.74

Saratoga Springs New York Scrollmaking Class

Attached are some pictures from my scrollmaking class in New York. There were 8 students.

Bujinkan Ninjutsu Wallscroll

This kakejiku or wallscroll was commissioned for a practitioner
of Ninjutsu. He wanted a simple style scroll, but was concerned about the quality of the calligraphy. My wife works really hard to try and get all characters evenly spaced and balanced and I think this one was well written in the Gyousho style.

The scroll is in a navy silk, with gold on gold karakusa for the ichimonji. The jikusaki are Ivory plastic in the 9 bun size. I used the larger size because this customer also purchased the fuchin on the bottom, which are ceramic pieces to weight the scroll. Dimensions as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	115	13.72
上一文字	Ue Ichimonji	7	0.84
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	53	6.32
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	220	26.24
柱	Pillars	18	2.15
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	4	0.48
地	Chi	70	8.35
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	89	10.62
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	416	49.63

Intuit Small Business Competition

I have entered my company, Custom Japanese Calligraphy in a small business competition and would ask you all to give me votes.

Which scroll would you use and why?

 This is a cuckoo...

 This is a long tailed Magpie

 These are migrating geese with a moon.

 Three persimmons.

A waterfall.

Peace Calligraphy Scroll

This scroll is available for sale. It is priced at $150.00 for inquiry please contact sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com . Some may wonder, well I can buy a scroll for less on many other sites. Perhaps true, but my scrolls are made by hand and take about one entire day of labor to complete. 

This work was written on paper by Ryugyoku (Yoshimi Yamada Maples) in the Semi cursive style called Gyousho. I will also be showing this at the American Bonsai Society Convention in Saratoga Springs NY. I framed it in the three step style called Sandan Hyougu. I used some pure silks for this scroll, and that is the reason for the $150.00 price. The middle cloth costs about $100 per meter. But I really like the quality of these cloths. The kakehimo is Kodai San Iro, and the kakejiku is a Shitan (Rosewood) Enshu, which has a concave shape and a lip on the far edge. I think it turned out very beautifully.

Dimensions as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	113	13.48
上中廻し	Ue Chuumawashi	30	3.58
上一文字	Ue Ichimonji	12	1.43
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	78	9.30
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	105	12.53
柱	Pillars	10	1.19
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	8	0.95
下中廻し	Shita Chuumawashi	20	2.39
地	Chi	70	8.35
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	98	11.69
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	346	41.27

Martial Arts Order

This was a kakejiku order for a Martial Artist in the Western US. In the beginning, he wanted to order a plain light green cloth, but I had this in stock and thought it would be better. It is written in the Semi-cursive style called gyousho and reads 練習　Renshu or Practice. In the original translation I was thinking to use the word Kunren or training, but I felt this was more appropriate as it is more individual. It is written by Ryugyoku (Yoshimi Yamada Maples).

It is completed with a Kurenai (Deep Crimson) dull lacquer wood jikusaki and a takuboku Hanging string. It was an enjoyable order to get finished.
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	77	9.19
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	106	12.64
柱	Pillars	10	1.19
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	6.5	0.78
地	Chi	70	8.35
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	97	11.57
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	308.5	36.80