殺人剣 satsujinken Life Taking Sword

Life Taking Sword in Japanese is 殺人剣 which is read satsujinken

殺人剣, read satsujinken: the sword that kills, a sword used to take life.

The sword that kills, and in the saying it belongs to, the killing is not a villain's: the seven characters 殺人刀活人剣, the sword that kills, the sword that gives life, are one Zen master's two hands, what he takes from a student and what he gives, and a master must have both. In the sword schools the killing sword is the stroke that strikes first and ends the other's answer; on a wall it has been read as the sword that takes life beside the sword that preserves it, and as the ruler's sword that kills one evil so that ten thousand may live. A person who hangs this half alone may mean any of those, and which is yours. The scroll brushes 殺人剣 with 剣, the word as the modern dictionaries head it; the Zen books mostly write the killing half 殺人刀, with 刀, the single-edged blade, and an Edo story of the swordsman Tsukahara Bokuden writes it with 剣, as the scroll does. 殺人 is killing a person, which is not the same as murder.

Its other half, katsujinken, is offered on its own.

satsujinken is composed of the kanji 殺人 (read satsujin) meaning "killing a person" and 剣 ken.

Note that the Japanese word satsujin is often translated as murder but this is not strictly correct as satsujin only means "kill a person" which includes murder but it also may mean killing someone evil or killing someone in defense of oneself, one's family or one's country - so it does not have the strictly negative meaning that the word "murder" has.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 殺人剣.

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.

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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