🍑 From Toshu 🍑

🍑 Calligraphy and Words

My name is Toshu.

I first encountered calligraphy
when I was around five years old,

and it has been about fifty years since then.

In times of joy,
and in times of uncertainty,

when I look back,
calligraphy has always been there
beside me.

When I write,
there are moments when feelings
I had not even realized were within me
quietly come into view.

For me,
the time I spend with calligraphy
has also been a time
to face my own heart.

Perhaps that is why.

Calligraphy, for me,
has never been simply about writing characters.

Somewhere along the way,
it became something like a prayer.

And now,
alongside calligraphy,
I also weave words.

If an encounter with calligraphy or words
can gently touch someone’s heart,

and become a small beginning
for listening quietly
to their own heart,

I would be deeply grateful.

Holding that feeling close,
I bring each piece together,
one by one.

🍑 The Wish Within Takara no Michi

As we live in this world,
we sometimes take on certain fixed ideas
without even realizing it.

“This is what people normally do.”

“This is how I should be.”

“I have to be like everyone else.”

As we compare ourselves with others,
or try to live up to the expectations around us,

we may lose sight of

what we truly feel,
what we truly wish for,
and what we once wanted to cherish.

That is why I sometimes wonder
whether we all need moments

when we can step gently away
from the voices around us

and listen quietly
to our own hearts.

It was from this feeling
that Takara no Michi was born.

If an encounter with a single piece of calligraphy
or a single word

can become a small opportunity
to notice something precious
within yourself,

I would be very happy.

🍑 To You Who Have Come to This Path

On Takara no Michi,
we gently look at many things —

the heart,
life,
love,
our connections with others,

and what it means
to live as yourself.

Along the way,
we are joined by kami
and many other beings.

But what lies at the end of this path
is not becoming like someone else.

You are not a substitute for anyone.

There is only one you
in this entire world.

You are irreplaceable.

You do not have to be the same
as anyone else.

What you feel,
what you wish to cherish,
and the path you choose to walk

are yours alone.

So I hope you will receive
the words you find here

not as one fixed answer,

but through your own heart,
in your own way.

And someday,

“I am allowed to be who I am.”

I hope there comes a moment
when you can receive yourself as you are,

cherish your own heart,

and feel,

“I will walk forward as the person I am.”

The path you have already walked,
and the path that still lies ahead —

I hope you will continue to walk them
in your own way,
cherishing each step.

With this wish
and this prayer in my heart,

I will continue
to carefully weave together

each piece of calligraphy
and each word.

From my heart,
thank you for visiting
Takara no Michi.

🍑 Toshu 🍑