誠 · Makoto The Same Person, Every Room - Japan Washi Art
誠 · Makoto The Same Person, Every Room - Japan Washi Art
The hardest form of honesty is not the kind directed at others.
It is the kind directed at yourself — the accurate assessment of where your words and your actions are not saying the same thing.
Makoto（誠）in Bushido is not measured by having a pure heart.
It is measured by whether you do what you said you would do, say what you actually believe, and present yourself consistently across the contexts where it would be easier to be different versions.
The character 誠 contains its argument in its structure: 言 (word/speech) on the left, 成 (to fulfill/to become) on the right. Word and fulfillment.
What is promised and what is enacted.
When these two are identical — when the character's left and right components are in perfect correspondence — Makoto（誠）is present.
This piece renders 誠 with a subtle doubling quality in the brushwork — two layers in precise registration, the private rendering and the public rendering occupying exactly the same space.
Because in genuine Makoto（誠）, there is no gap between them.
For the person who is doing the daily work of becoming someone whose word means something.
◆What is Awa Washi?
Awa Washi is Japanese paper produced in Yoshino City, Tokushima Prefecture; Naka Town, Naka District; and Ikeda Town, Miyoshi City. It is made using traditional Japanese paper-making techniques such as “flow-making” and “pool-making.”Awa Washi is characterized by the unique texture and natural feel of hand-made paper, along with its durable quality—thin yet strong and resistant to tearing, even when wet.
◆History of Awa Washi
The exact origins of Awa Washi are unclear, but it is thought to have begun around 806–810 AD. Records indicate that the Awa Inbe clan cultivated hemp and kozo (paper mulberry) and produced paper, suggesting that washi production had already begun by the Nara period.In modern times, Awa washi gradually declined alongside Westernization. However, one paper-making company persevered in preserving the tradition, and in 1976, Awa washi was designated a Traditional Craft.
◆Design
This artwork was designed in my Kyoto studio. Some of the images were designed using digital design tools, while others were designed using artificial intelligence (AI) with my own instructions and references to traditional artworks.
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Let customers speak for us
Stayed at a bad job way too long.
Told myself it was loyalty.
Turns out there's a word for what I was actually doing — and loyalty isn't it.
Chugi is the chapter. The short version is: real loyalty includes the question ""does this still deserve what I'm giving it?""
I had completely stopped asking that.
Didn't make me feel great about the past three years, not gonna lie.
But it reframed how I think about commitment going forward, which
I think is the point.
Good book. Challenging in the right ways.
All members of the SHOGUN production staff should read this.
The stories of Japanese samurai are fascinating.
The best choice not only to understand the spirit of Bushido, but also to embody it.
