Custom Judo Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

We have many options to create artwork with Judo characters on a wall scroll or portrait...


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  1. Judo

  2. Kodokan Judo

  3. Heart of Judo

  4. Lion Judo

  5. Mutual Welfare and Benefit

  6. Kodokan


 róu dào
 juu dou
Judo Scroll

柔道 is the martial art invented in Japan and known as “Judo” around the world.

Translated directly, it means “Gentle Way” or “Flexible Way"

More about Judo

Kodokan Judo

 kou dou kan juu dou
Kodokan Judo Scroll

講道館柔道 is the title for the Kodokan Judo school of Japanese martial arts.

Heart of Judo

 róu
 yawara
 
Heart of Judo Scroll

This 柔 Kanji literally means flexible, pliable, gentle, or yielding.

柔 is also the first Kanji of the Japanese martial arts titles of Judo and Jujutsu (Jujitsu). In those cases, it's pronounced “ju” in Japanese. However, alone, the classic pronunciation is “yawara.” Some translate this Kanji (in the context of martial arts) as “The Heart of Judo.”

Please note that this just means pliable, gentle, and yielding in Chinese and old Korean Hanja. They do know what Judo and Jujitsu are but if this character is seen alone in China or Korea, people generally will not think of the martial arts context.

 shī zi róu dào
 shi shi juu dou
Lion Judo Scroll

獅子柔道 is the title for Lion Judo.

This should be considered just a Japanese title, though it is pronounceable and makes sense in Chinese and Korean - so I have included the romanization for those languages above.

Mutual Welfare and Benefit

Jita-Kyoei

 ji ta kyou ei
Mutual Welfare and Benefit Scroll

自他共栄 can be translated in a few different ways. Here are some possibilities:
Benefit mutually and prosper together.
Mutual welfare and benefit.
A learning concept of mutual benefit and welfare (that applies to all fields of society).
Mutual prosperity.

The first two characters are easy to explain. They are “self” and “others.” Together, these two characters create a word that means “mutual” (literally “me and them”).

The third character can have different meanings depending on context. Here, it means “in common” or “to share.”

The fourth character suggests the idea of “prosperity,” “flourishing,” or becoming “glorious.”

It should be noted that these Kanji are used almost exclusively in the context of Judo martial arts. 自他共榮 is not a common or recognized Japanese proverb outside of Judo.

You may see this romanized as Jita-Kyoei or Jitakyoei.


In modern Japanese Kanji, the last character looks like 栄 instead of 榮. If you want the older/traditional version, please let us know when you place your order.

 kou dou kan
Kodokan Scroll

講道館 is a title that refers to a certain kind or school of Judo martial arts.

Here's how the characters break down in meaning for this one:
1. Mutual Assistance or Association. Can also refer to a lecture, speech, or explaining something (as in teaching).
2. Way / Path (the Tao/Dao as in Taoism/Daoism)
3. Schoolroom / Building / Establishment / Mansion / Small Castle / Hall (of learning)

Altogether, you get something like, “The Path of Mutual Learning Hall.”

More about Kodokan from the Institute of Kodokan.


The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Judo柔道juu dou / juudou / ju doróu dào / rou2 dao4 / rou dao / roudaojou tao / joutao
Kodokan Judo講道館柔道
讲道馆柔道
kou dou kan juu dou
koudoukanjuudou
ko do kan ju do
Heart of Judoyawararóu / rou2 / roujou
Lion Judo獅子柔道
狮子柔道
shi shi juu dou
shishijuudou
shi shi ju do
shī zi róu dào
shi1 zi5 rou2 dao4
shi zi rou dao
shiziroudao
shih tzu jou tao
shihtzujoutao
Mutual Welfare and Benefit自他共榮
自他共荣 / 自他共栄
ji ta kyou ei
jitakyouei
ji ta kyo ei
Kodokan講道館
讲道馆
kou dou kan
koudoukan
ko do kan
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line.
In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese.


All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.

When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.

Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!

When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.


A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.

There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form of art alive.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.

A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.