Cold rain in the season of the blooming cherry blossoms somehow gives a wistful, sorrow feeling.

I searched a haikuas a motif for my calligraphic work with this season wordjust to find sad haikus in almost all cases.

Rain on the cherry blossoms/

Didn’t say I cried in my dreams/

Translation and calligraphy by Tomoko

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桜の咲き誇る季節の冷たい雨は、もの悲しい感じがします。

この季語で書の題材になるような俳句を探したら、ほとんどが悲しい句でした。

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For the last three or four days, I really walked a good deal, as each day I had many things to do.

So, this is the letter “to walk” in many different styles.

I learned the letter was originally formed copying the two feet.

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昨日までの３〜４日というもの、いろいろの用事でたくさん歩きました。

という訳で、「歩」をいろんなスタイルで書いてみました。

この字の成り立ちは、もともと左右の足を模したものだそうです。

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The task for today’s practice session was to use more than one brushes at the same time.

I used three brushes for the Chinese characters’ piece on the right, and two brushes for the haiku piece on the left.

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今日は、複数の筆づかいのお稽古。

右の漢字が３本で、左の仮名が２本。

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I used two brushes at a time.  According to my teacher, it is OK to use eleven at most.

Daffodils/

Strongly make a point/

So small and white/

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筆２本を使って書きました。先生によると、１１本までＯＫだそうです。

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They carry the same material, a haiku on a scarlet flower.  They differ, quite obviously in paper sizes and actually, different scroll mounters.

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題材は同じ紅い花の俳句で、違うのは紙の大きさと表具屋さんです。

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I am not at all pleased with the result of this copying practice.  However, many of my friends told me that I have done a good job.  What nice friends I have!

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臨書は難しくて、なかなか上手く出来ません。けれども、これは良く出来たと言ってくれる人たちがたくさんいました。気を遣ってもらったかな？

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The small one is the task for today’s practice session, “thinking of you”.

The large one is my work of “love” 愛in the present day form and the ancient form, in connection with the St. Valentine’s Day.

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小さい方は今日の課題で、「君を想う」。

大きい方は私の創作で、現代文字と古代文字の「愛」。バレンタインデーに因んで。

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The task for today’s practice session was again using two brushes at a time.  The meaning of the phrase; “meeting with someone and laughing out loud together”.

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今日の課題は、再び筆を２本を同時に使って書くこと。

課題のフレーズの意味は、誰かと会って、一緒に大笑いする、ということ。

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The tasks for today’s practice session were:  Using two brushes simultaneously and in a relaxed way, aiming for a leisurely touch and writing haiku on a tanzaku or a thin strip of paper with a fat brush and not a fine one:  and both were very challenging.

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今日の課題は、筆を２本を同時に使ってゆったりと書くことと、短冊に俳句を書くのも太筆で、という要求水準の高いものでした。

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There are many shrines in Japan that enshrine Ebisu, a god of business prosperity.  I went to the one here in Kyoto, which is much smaller than other well-known ones, for its biggest annual festival.

Toward the shrine/

Proceed many wishes of the people dressed in beautiful, cheerful festive kimonos/

Snowy weather/

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えべっさんと言えば、西宮と大阪の今宮戎が有名ですが、私は京都の人なので、京都のゑびす神社に行ってきました。

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First calligraphy is traditionally practiced on January 2^nd.

This year I wrote the poem on the written oracle of Himukai Dai-Jingu shrine, which was “excellent luck”.

Anyway the wind blows/

Hundreds of thousands of boats and ships/

Gathering at the good haven/

Translation and calligraphy by Tomoko

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今年の書き初めには、日向大神宮のおみくじのお歌を書きました。大吉でした。

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Our entrance on the New Year Day.
The letter may look like a Sanskrit character, but actually it is a Chinese character that expresses “wild boar”. According to the Chinese zodiac, the year 2019 falls on the year of the wild boar.
Rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise, and it becomes a beast.

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お正月の玄関。

梵字のように見えるかも知れませんが、「亥」です。

反時計回りに９０度回転すると獣になります。

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The first line:  Good fortune, worldly happiness, including economic aspect and a happiness of longevity.

And the second line expresses a destination for the year 2019, which is, life full of smile and laughter.

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幸運なこと、経済的を含めての現世的幸福、長生きという幸福。

そして来年の目標。

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I wrote this one, being inspired by a good, old friend who contacted me for the first time in a long time.

It is such a fun to write something getting inspiration from and thinking about someone really precious!

And I would like to see her soon!

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旧い友人が連絡してきてくれて、ふと書きました。

大切な存在からインスピレーションをもらって書くのって楽しい！

そして、早く会いたい！

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These are “LOVE’s” by my teacher and myself.  There is a distance beyond belief.

Incidentally, my teacher employed the cursive style, which explains the difference in forms.

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我が師の愛と私の愛。格が違いすぎてどうにもなりません。

因みに先生は草書の『愛』を書いておられるので、字姿が違うのです。

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Today we learned Seal script.  It was almost an unknown world to me.

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今日は篆書体のお稽古。ほぼ未知の世界で。

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I have always tried to realize “pleasure of calligraphy in daily life” an ideal my teacher upheld all his life.  So, these are my modest but heartfelt gifts to the sightseers from abroad.

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生活の中に書の楽しみを、という我が師の生涯のモットーのためになればいいと思うのです。という訳で、外国から観光においでの皆さまへのお土産です。

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In today’s practice session, I asked my teacher to comment on my works for my valuable overseas friends.  These are only inchoate and I will post something of higher degree of perfection later.

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今日は、海外の大事な友人たちのために書いたものを添削していただきました。これらは途中経過ですので、いずれもっと完成度の高いものをアップします。

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The task for today’s practice session was to write like a ten-year-old would do, which was such a tough task.

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今日のお稽古の課題は、１０歳児のように書く、というものでしたが、難しくって。https://www.facebook.com/Calligrapher.Chio/

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This is my first picture letter.

My longtime true friend who always helps me with many things came to my house with pears and Japanese citruses on a rainy day.  Thank you always for everything!!

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いつもいろいろ助けてくれる大事な友人が、雨の中、梨とスダチを持ってきてくれました。いつもありがとう！！

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“Even in a wildwater, the moon would NOT flow away.”

The phrase implies how important it is to stick to your philosophy.

Now, here I am who just can’t decide which style will be more well-received.

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急流にあっても、月は流れない。

ブレないことの大事さ。

でも、一つのスタイルに決められない私がいます。

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Similarly to my post about the double rainbow, this happened a couple of weeks ago.  I went to enjoy the latter part of the Gion Matsuri, one of the most famous and important festivals in Kyoto.  At the Koiyama Float, I received a chimaki, generally, a kind of rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed, but here, a kind of talisman with a solemn feeling.  The symbol of this float comes from a well-known legend from the ancient China. According to it, there was a torrent upstream of the Huang He River.  If a carp succeeded to climb up this rapid flow, it would change into a dragon.  A story of a carp becoming a dragon is very encouraging for me, mysterious and profound as well.  For, my mother, my first calligraphy teacher and my valued friend are all born under the signof the dragon.

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二重の虹の件と同様、これも２〜３週間前のことですが、祇園祭の後祭で、鯉山に行って、粽をいただいてきました。

鯉が龍になるとはとても勇気付けられるお話ですし、何かしら深いご縁も感じます。書の師も母も大事な友人も辰年生まれです。

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While a large, powerful typhoon is approaching, I suddenly remembered this:  A good friend of mine had given me an image of a double rainbow two weeks ago.

They say people who had a chance to see colorful clouds or a double rainbow will have good luck.  I wish I were to enjoy good luck just like those people.

On a difficult journey alone in autumn/

Appeared a double rainbow/

Translation and calligraphy by Tomoko

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大きくて、強力な台風が近づく中、これを思い出しました。二重の虹の写真をもらっていたのでした。２週間も前に。

彩雲も二重の虹も、見た人は幸運に恵まれると言います。あやかりたいものです。

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The photo shows a result of a little experiment I made to see how my little calligraphy work on a postcard would look after it traveled abroad.  These postcards first flew to the United States and then traveled back to Japan.  An incredibly kind friend there surely made this experiment possible.

Moreover, the two letters are the first letters of the names of my irreplaceable friends who have been extremely supportive for me both mentally and practically to establish a career as a calligrapher.

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ちょっとした実験をしてみたのです。

私の字を乗せて、ハガキが外国に行ったらどんな風になるのかしら？　と。このハガキは、まず日本からアメリカに行って、それからまた帰国しました。もちろんアメリカの親切な協力者あってこそ可能だったことです。

また、この二つの文字は、私が書家として身を立てるために心身両面から様々な協力をしてくださっているかけがえのない友人たちの名前の初めの字です。

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An old friend of mine asked me to write the name of her company, “Sunflower”. The photo shows a first small try of the letters.  Later, I will write them on a big sheet of paper and made it to be framed for displaying in her office.

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旧い知り合いが、会社名を書いてほしいと言ってくれました。試しに小さいものを書いてみました。もちろん、社長室に飾ってもらうためには大きな紙に書いて表装もしてもらいます。

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I have already sent abroad these four fans with my calligraphy on them.  I hope people in Western world will like them.

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この４枚の団扇は既に遠い異国に送りました。

西欧の人たちに気に入ってもらえたらいいな。

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Since these are quite small (calligraphy on postcards), how to present them, I think, must be even more important.  I have been wondering which way will be more received by people interested in Japanese style calligraphy like mine.

Right: Overflow  Left: To walk, to proceed

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小さい作品だからこそ、飾るときの体裁にこだわらねば・・・と思い、ハガキ作品を飾るときにどちらが映えるかなと考えています。

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For some time, I have been thinking of using postcards for my calligraphy activity so people will enjoy calligraphy works in their homes light-heartedly.

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このところ考えているのは、おうちでも書作品をお気軽に楽しんでもらえますように！　ということで、再度ハガキに書きました。

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As the hot days of unbearable heat never seems to end, I did works of three more fans. I wish they would create an atmosphere of cool and refreshing.

“Fruitful rain” “Quietism” “Refinement of poetry”

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酷暑の日が続きますので、団扇作品を追加しました。涼やかさが演出できればいいのですが。

慈雨。無事。詩雅。

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Tomorrow, we students of our calligraphy school will have a convivial luncheon gathering.

Our teacher told us to bring a work to be displayed at the venue and now I am wondering which to choose.

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明日のお昼はお弟子仲間の懇親会。

会場に飾るために作品を持って来なさいと先生がおっしゃったのですが、どちらにしようかな。

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I was really glad to meet with someone from abroad for the first time in years today, and to have a chance to practice calligraphy together as well.  I have kept wishing that the people from abroad to be familiar with this culture and art.  I wish to convey what I got from my great teacher who I fortunately met as a child as far as ever possible.

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今日は、久し振りにお目にかかった方と、ご一緒にお稽古もしました。海外の人々にこの文化を知ってほしいという想いは持ち続けています。子供の頃に、本当に偉い師匠から頂いたものを出来るだけ遠くまで伝えたい。

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I tried to go for a refreshing cool atmosphere.

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涼しげな佇まいだったのですけど・・・。

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The rainy season may have ended already.  However, here is something traditionally attached to the season.  This piece shows a popular combination as a motif for a calligraphy work, that is, Mt. Fuji and a snail.

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もう明けてしまったかも知れませんが、梅雨の風物と富士山とカタツムリ、という人気の取り合わせ。

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These express same letters in different cursive styles.

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同じ言葉ですが、二種類の書体で書きました。

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