This is the only calligraphy my late father left. I asked him to write it for my first solo exhibitionin 2009. I have been thinking about him for a couple of days after emailing to a good friend of mine about how he was.
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This is my work from around ten years ago. The phrase is from the Analects of Confucius. Its interpretation differs among each person.
I chose this one just because it has characters meaning “beauty” and “intellect”, the first letter of my name. On top of that I wanted to see how the brush of a long sheaf of hair would work.
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It has been unbearably hot! Still, somehow, when a nip of fall is beginning to be felt, loneliness also comes in.
Playing with handheld fireworks/
Each has/
Own story/
Translation and calligraphy by Chio
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I wrote this one about four years ago after visiting the facility for the elderly my mother then belonged to for the first time for a fun event for both the elderly and their families, a little concert of reed pipes.
In every household/
Is a good-hearted oldster/
Gourd flowers/
Translation and calligraphy by Chio
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My mother wrote these on postcards for her important friends. Both of them are from other countries. My mother is much more cosmopolitan than people would normally think.
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This has been my favorite haiku for many years. However, I learned quite recently that this flower, hibiscus mutabilis, only blooms for one day and withers at sunset.
The man I put a curse on/
Is the one I love/
Scarlet flower of hibiscus mutabilis/
Translation and calligraphy by Chio
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Excellent luck!
Today I visited the shrine called Himukai-Daijingu for the first time in three months. I got a written oracle there as I often do. Its title said “excellent luck” which made me very happy, however, as I read the next part, I found a message in the form of the Japanese traditional poem, saying “You might feel as if you are walking on a rustic bridge over a swirling brook in a valley in the evening.” And I wondered if this was really “Excellent luck”.
Then came an explanation that said as follows, “Although you at first have worries, you don’t need to dither. Everything will be all right at the end.”
I just hope this divination comes true!
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I am now trying to sort out my works from the past. And in doing so, I found this one, which I have completely forgotten. The movement of the brush gives awkwardness from youth. In fact, I don’t use this seal under my signature any more.
The letters mean poetic gracefulness.
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This wooden box cup for drinking sakéor Japanese wine was a souvenir for the hundreds of party participants that got together to celebrate longevity of my first calligraphy teacher, the late Mr. Akiyama Kodo （秋山公道）who enjoyed a long life. He himself wrote two Chinese characters of good omen on each cup.
So, again, here’s to the art and culture of calligraphy!
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Elderly people sometimes say the spirits of the ancestors come back home from the afterworld guided by the red Chinese lantern fruits. I hope they have already arrived here safely for the Bon Festival or the Buddhist Festival of the ancestral spirits.
Inside the Chinese lantern fruit/
Scarlet universe may exist/
Translation and calligraphy by Chio
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