An exclusive kanji shirt

Kanji t-shirts are in, and rightly so. The visual quality of Japanese kanji or Chinese characters is unparalleled in modern languages.

Indeed, I have seen inspiring designs based on Japanese kanji. However, I have also seen a lot of ugliness on many a kanji shirt. I am talking about mass produced kanji t-shirts.

This will never happen when you buy a kanji shirt from us for yourself, or as an exclusive gift. Every design is brushed with the same care and spirit as though it was a dear Japanese calligraphy.

Right now, we have launched four kanji designs: the love kanji, the dragon kanji, the bushido kanji and aikido kanji for passionate martial artists. Treat yourself to an exclusive kanji shirt that isn't mass produced.

The aikido kanji is the true original large one. Although many people don't know it, its visual impact is many times more intense than the simplified common aikido kanji.

Next, we'll launch the karate kanji, and the large reiki kanji. We have other designs of the kanji for love in store as well as other popular kanji. I'll keep you posted.

© Núria Roig

Dragon kanji symbol

In China the dragon is a symbol of fertility, strength and excellence. Chinese used to include the Dragon character in their son's names with the intention to imbue their children with the dragon's qualities.

Emperors of the Land of the Middle saw themselves as reincarnations of the mighty Dragon.

Celebrate the intense energy of the dragon sending your friends a postcard with a cool calligraphy of a dragon kanji symbol.

© Núria Roig

Japanese kanji symbols

For centuries Japanese and Korean wrote the Japanese and Korean languages with Chinese characters only. Later Korea developed its own writing system.

In the 9th century Japan japanized itself and created two syllabic systems called kana, which were based on abbreviated Chinese characters. The katakana and hiragana alphabets have a limited amount of syllables; therefore, memorizing them is not such a daunting task.

To this day the three writing systems, kanji or Chinese characters, katakana and hiragana coexist in the modern Japanese language. Rather the three have converged into the Japanese writing system.

From the 12th century Japan produced extraordinary calligraphers. They continued brushing their astounding calligraphies using Japanese kanji symbols or Chinese characters.

Click here for original affordable kanji designs on apparel, prints and postcards not found anywhere else.

© Núria Roig

Japanese kanji love

The Japanese kanji for love ai includes the kanji for heart in the middle.

In the West we always associate the heart with love, and as we can see Japanese and Chinese also associate the kanji love with feelings.

Many times the symbols of East and West are quite different, even opposite. For instance, for us wearing a black color is a sign of mourning, but Asian wear black in funeral services.

Not this time. Regarding universal love we all seem to feel the same, I'd say, Thank God!

Here you can find a wonderful Japanese calligraphy of love mounted as a hanging scroll in the traditional Asian way with beautiful silk brocade.

Clicking here you can browse through original and affordable designs of the expressive Japanese kanji love

© Núria Roig

Kanji symbols today

Chinese characters were born thousands of years ago as pictograms or pictures of essential things and basic actions.

Oracle bones were the first media ancient Chinese used for their inscriptions.

No one uses the beautiful Egyptian hieroglyphics or the ancient Mesopotamia Sumerian script. Chinese, however, have kept their amazing characters for thousands of years until now.

Japanese adopted Chinese characters from China in the 5th century. We in the West know them as kanji, kanji symbols, and Japanese kanji.

Everybody seems to love the Chinese or Japanese kanji symbols. Everybody seems to have a favorite kanji symbol, a preferred Chinese character.

Therefore, I asked master calligrapher Nadja Van Ghelue to brush popular kanji calligraphies that could be used as designs for apparel, prints, greeting cards and more.

Click for expressive kanji symbols

© Núria Roig