Japanese Kanji Saying 'Nature's Splendor' Postcard

These kanji characters are pronounced 'ka cho fu getsu' and refer to the beauty of the natural world and express a reverence and deep appreciation for nature. They're also used to describe works of art such as poetry and paintings that depict nature with sensitivity, elegance and refinement. Inherent is the notion that in the process of taking the time to really see the natural world around us, we're given the chance to understand ourselves more fully as well. The four characters that comprise this expression were long ago chosen to represent such sentiments because they are elements of the natural world that have been celebrated for thousands of years-Flowers (花 ka), Birds (鳥 cho), Wind (風 fu) and Moon(月 getsu). The characters are written in the traditional way, vertically from right to left. Four-character kanji compounds like this are referred to as a yoji jukugo (四字熟語). There are hundreds, and they're required study for Japanese children. They appear on school entrance exams, as well as in the conversation of well read people. They are linguistic gems, conveying meaning compactly, colorfully and profoundly. They are often infused with references to such things as classical Chinese and Japanese literature and history and Buddhist precepts. Brush artist Sanae created this work at her studio in Kyoto by hand. Then we scanned it for use here. Sanae's red name stamp in the lower left corner adds a dash of vibrant color and the black kanji characters written in a bold style on a simple white base give this design a dynamic energy and flow.