愛は勝つ (ai wa katsu) “love wins”

I created this as a commission for a friend who wanted to give it as part of a gift.

Before writing, I double checked the Japanese with my Japanese teacher to make sure it sounded natural (I *always* do this – it saves embarrassing mistakes!).

She said that as well as sounding natural, it is also:

  • a well-known pop song
  • the name of a charity campaign to raise money for survivors of the Fukushima earthquake/tsunami disaster.

My friend also wanted some parts of the characters in red.

Can you see the significance of the red parts?

The 心 in 愛 (love) on its own means “heart”.

The 力 in 勝つ (win) on its own means “power”.

Japanese kanji are pretty awesome that way 🙂

If you’re interested in surprising a friend with a unique gift, why not consider commissioning a calligraphy work?

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