見猿聞か猿言わ猿 mizarukikazaruiwazaru See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil in Japanese is 見猿聞か猿言わ猿 which is read mizarukikazaruiwazaru

見猿聞か猿言わ猿 (mizaru kikazaru iwazaru): see not, hear not, say not.

The monkeys came first. Three monkeys with their hands over eyes, ears and mouth are in a 1597 manuscript, in a Kyoto hall by 1632 and on roadside stones by the 1780s, and the sentence first appears in 1649 as a pun on them: 猿, monkey, for the negative ざる. The old sense is restraint about other people's faults, and the Japanese tradition adds a fourth monkey, that not seeing, hearing and saying are the easy three and not thinking is the hard one.

The evil in the English is Lafcadio Hearn's word of 1894; the Japanese names no object.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 見猿聞か猿言わ猿.

Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days. It ships by USPS Priority Mail from Master Takase's studio in Washington State, boxed and ready to hang, with a printed page giving the art's English, romaji and Japanese.

Sending it as a gift? Tell us when you order and we will include your message.

Shipping is calculated at checkout from your address; within the United States it is $13 to $22. We ship worldwide, and any import charges for your country are shown at checkout before you pay.

Every order is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If your scroll arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping. Refund policy

Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase brushes your scroll by hand when you order it. Each scroll bears her red seal, 英利, and her signature.

The scrolls are 12 1/4" W × 43" H (31 × 109 cm) with real silk borders and Japanese paper that are layered so the scroll hangs straight and will not warp over time. The scrolls themselves are made by Sankō (株式会社三幸) in Gifu prefecture, which has been making high quality scrolls since 1947, and we have worked with Sankō for over two decades.

Eri Takase was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and holds the rank of Shihan, the highest rank in Japanese calligraphy, from the Bokuteki-kai and the Bunka-shodo. About Master Takase