What is truth?

Truth is what?

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The photo shows “Truth” by my first calligraphy teacher, the late Mr. Akiyama Kodo (秋山公道) who was a distinguished calligrapher.

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I wonder what he intended to express.

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I have been wondering whether people’s speech exactly reflect their minds or the opposite.

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Come to think of it, this “wondering” of mine is not something new at all.

I have been wondering in this way as long as I remember.

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This is a quite well-known haiku by Basho (松尾芭蕉), one of the most popular haiku poets in early Edo period in Japan.

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Apparently, my most important friend as to my career as a calligrapher likes it, because he quoted it in his recent message to me.

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However, my biggest interest and what I wanted to show the readers here is the structure of the Chinese character for “autumn”.

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The letter has two parts, in other words it can be vertically divided into two parts.  And we usually write it just the opposite way from how I did here.  However, what did here is never a mistake.

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In short, when it comes to writing some Chinese characters, it doesn’t matter which way you put the two parts, that is, it isn’t very strictly defined which part should be right and which one should be put left side.

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To sum up, concerning how Chinese characters should be written, there is much wider latitude than people would usually expect.

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On this road/

No one will follow me/

In the autumn evening/

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Here is a new video on my YouTube channel that I newly set up.

Check this and enjoy my calligraphy!

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This is another piece exhibited at the third exhibition of Yushokai held in July, 2015, sort of a medley of my works on thin strips of paper called tanzaku with haiku and tanka as motifs.

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Maybe I just wanted to look like a highly sophisticated women to do something like this at that time.

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I found this from an anthology of Zen philosophy phrases.

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“To surmount the dualistic thinking pattern that all of us tend to fall into.”

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“Life or death”  “To do or not to do”  “Yes or no”  “Good or bad”  “Joy or sorrow” …

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And the phrase recommends us to try to enjoy being sort of “indefinite”.

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However, I just wonder if that is possible at all.  For, there are so many things to worry about in my life.

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One of my best friends from high school days visited me again with delicious dishes and good homemade cakes as well, this time.

I intended to take a nap/
But next thing I know/
I was baking a cake/

Translation and calligraphy by Chio

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The task for today’s practice session was to write on a silk cloth.

And it is supposed to be an emblem, an oriflamme or a banner of my studio.

However, I am helplessly poor at sewing and I am not sure how it would turn out.

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Why do we feel something creepy out of this beautiful flower?

Message/

From underground/

Spider lilies/

Translation and calligraphy by Chio

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It is essentially important for us, I am sure, to eat tasty dishes.

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And the timing was amazingly right!  A very good and longtime friend of mine came with her homemade dishes, which made me so happy because she is quite a cook.

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According to the old lunar calendar, we are now in the last stage (out of three) of the autumn season.

The photo shows the result of my copying practice of the work by my first teacher, the late Mr. Akiyama Kodo 秋山公道.

If put into words/

It is only that/

Willow leaves are falling/

Translation by Chio

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… and happiness to be loved.

This is one of my past works that was exhibited at my first solo exhibition in the beginning of 2009.

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Actually it makes me embarrassed for two reasons.

(1) It gives out so much girlish taste.

(2) Calligraphic skill is so poor.

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However, it is very heartwarming for me, as well, for whenever I see the photo, it reminds me of the precious, fond memories of my friends, my parents and my teacher who were really supportive for the success of the exhibition.

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This is one of my past works that was exhibited at the Third Exhibition of Yushokai in July, 2015.

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I learned that it was a dreamy, fantastic poem, which intrigued me very much.

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However, I repented a little bit when I began writing it because it is a very long poem and moreover, somehow I inadvertently chose a very long sheet of paper, that is, longer that normal kind of long, big sheets of paper.

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I chose this phrase from the brochure of the Alzheimer’s Association Japan.

Even if you forget everything about your life/

Each and every person is/

THE main character/

Translation by Chio

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This is my own favorite piece.

I like the poem of ancient China especially the last three letters, meaning the moon is near the people (or “us”, “the earth”, “the world”…).

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Right after my first solo exhibition at the beginning of 2009, I was asked to write something by someone that visited it and I did this.

This person reframed it and decorated on the wall of his office.

I was really happy and honored.

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I learned this Chinese phrase meant “for your beauty” from a very important friend from China.

She runs an international company that deals makeup tools.

I do hope she will like this piece.

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These are for my dear friend from high school days.

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I met her a month ago at a kind of a reunion and promised her to write one letter from her name 美 meaning “beauty”.

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Actually, I am very grateful for her appreciation for my calligraphy, which is always encouraging for me when I practice calligraphy and try to create something new.

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By contrast, there sure are some people who just don’t think good about my calligraphy.  Those people even won’t say flattering things about my calligraphy even though they fully know I have been practicing it for long.

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For that reason, I knew I should have delivered on my promise immediately.  However, in actuality, these days I have only been thinking how I could make a good piece of the letter.

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It took about a month and the worse thing is I only came up with my old idea, that is, a combination of a letter used at present and an ancient form of the same letter.

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I sent her these two and the one put behind is my little, old piece with a phrase “fruitful, gracious showers” because she is　precisely that sort of good-natured person.

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These are the results of the practice session today.

My weakest point, I think, is that all the lines, namely, all the movement of my arm are just utterly predictable.

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This was the assignment our teacher gave at the last practice session.

I wonder what comment she will give me tomorrow.

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I had my fortune forecast by tarot reading today, and at a shrine, that was!  A number of encouraging cards gave me lots of happy inspiration.

Moreover, as a written oracle lover, I got the shrine’s written oracle, as well.

In the lonely, inactive, withering, deep mountains in winter/

Trees are waiting for the spring to bloom/

Translation and calligraphy by Chio

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Autumn moon/

Bower has darkness/

In tow/

Translation and calligraphy by Chio
We will be enjoying the Harvest moon tonight.

This haiku isn’t necessarily about the Harvest moon, however, it is about the moon in the fall season, anyway.

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Today, September 11^th, was the birthday of my first calligraphy teacher, the late Mr. Akiyama Kodo (秋山公道) who passed away around 25 years ago at age 92.  The photo shows his writing of his own poem about how he felt when he turned ninety years old.  A man of letters in those days could compose Chinese style poems adequately following the rules, as well as Japanese style poems, such as haiku’s, tanka’s and what not.

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When I was trying to clean up my terribly cluttered room, I found another piecefrom my young days.  I have completely forgotten about this one, either, and I have no idea how many years ago I did this.

The only thing I found from these two pieces is that I like the phrase, “poetic gracefulness”.

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This was the task for today’s lesson.

It is one of the Zen phrases meaning that just watching clouds, you are having the upmost pleasure because clouds tell you many things; the season, the weather, the direction of the wind; and they transform pretty frequently and engrossingly.  Moreover, they are visible anywhere you are; indoors, on the beach, in the mountains….

This tanzaku or a strip of paper is pasted with very thin bark of Japanese cypress noted for its pleasant aroma.

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I remember it was definitely the most popular piece at the Third Exhibition of Yushokaiin held in 2015.  It is a quite heavy Western style framed work and that is the point I don’t like about it.

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The poet says she leaves the last one petal as is.  I thought if only one petal was left, the result was simply obvious.  The poet must be enjoying the feeling of afterglow of the girlish taste fortunetelling.

Why did I choose this haiku?  Of course, it is because I like fortunetelling. And fortunetelling of all kinds, that is.

When pulling petals off a flower/

Daringly l leave the last one/

Undisturbed/

Translation and calligraphy by Chio

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This was one of the main items for my solo exhibition in 2008, which is a pretty big work of about 136cm x 70cm.

Here I wrote a passage from an ancient Chinese history book of 14^thcentury.  I chose this passage because it briefly touches the origin of mathematics.  As I used to work with mathematicians, I feel warm attachment to mathematics and mathematicians.

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I did this one several years ago.  My hair is quite short (and pink) and I think women with long hair would chime in with this haiku more.

Just like spilling out awkwardness/

I shampoo my hair/

Translation and calligraphy by Chio.

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I showed this to someone today, and she liked it very much!  However, I am not sure what she liked was my calligraphy or the colored paper I chose.

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This is one of the works by my first calligraphy teacher, the late Mr. Akiyama Kodo (秋山公道師) that I possess now.  I just can’t remember if I had to pay for it or he gave it to me as a gift, though.

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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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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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This is no “fancy” restaurant at all, but I was happy to chat with one of my good old friends who had been hospitalized for a considerable period because of a serious injury.  The truth is, however, she still has pain in the leg.  Despite this, I heard she resumed practicing ping-pong, her greatest pastime.  And I admire her positivity.

Cicadas are out (and noisy)/

My friend is also out of the hospital/

We celebrated with red wine/

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