Meeting a Single Work of Calligraphy.
On washi paper with a beautiful gradient of white and gray, bold yet gently flowing strokes of ink spell out a message.
“Love is about trying to see the best.”
The moment you encounter these words brushed by calligrapher Shourin Iwasaki, they seep quietly into the depths of your chest.
The single character for “love” — 愛 — sits large and commanding on the page, while the remaining words flow beneath it like a gentle conversation: is about… trying to see… the best.
The gradations of ink, the rhythm of the brush — the feelings poured into every single stroke transcend the words themselves and reach straight to the viewer.
＼ 岩﨑翔凛のSTORESはこちら！ ／
The Depth of “Love is about trying to see the best”
This phrase defines love not as an emotion, but as an act of will.
We tend to think of love as something we feel — excitement, warmth, longing.
Those are certainly facets of love.
But what this phrase illuminates is that love is an active pursuit: the act of trying to see.
To see the best in someone — their finest qualities, their most beautiful potential — consciously, and with intention.
This is not about surrendering to lazy sentiment.
It means that even when someone is weak, when they disappoint us, when we struggle to see the good in them — we keep asking: where is the best in this person?
Love, this phrase declares, is a choice.
Walking Around the Words — “Best,” “Love,” “Trying to See”
Each word in this single sentence carries a long history within the rich landscape of the Japanese language.
“最善” (best / the highest good) — this is not merely “something good,” but the state of being the most good, beyond which nothing better exists.
The spirit resonates with the four-character idiom 尽心竭力 (jinshin-ketsuryoku) — to devote one’s heart and strength entirely — reflecting the posture of giving everything one has for the sake of another.
The character “愛” (love) itself contains the element for “heart” (心) at its core.
There is a suggestion built into the very structure of the word: love does not spring from the head, but from the very center of the heart.
The verb “見る” (to see / to look) is equally profound.
Japanese has many forms of “seeing” — 見る, 観る, 視る, 看る — each with distinct nuance.
The “seeing” in this phrase is one of careful attention and respect: not a passive glance, but a seeing that seeks to discover.
In a Buddhist context, the concept of 慈悲 (jihi / compassion) also comes to mind.
慈 (ji) is the desire to bring happiness to another; 悲 (hi) is the desire to relieve another’s suffering.
The act of “trying to see the best” aligns deeply with this spirit of compassion.
Like a Poem — On Love
To love is something like continuing to look toward the light.
When your eyes have grown too accustomed to someone’s darkness — choosing, once more, to search for where their brightness lies.
That may be the quietest, and the strongest, form that love can take.
When Shourin Iwasaki chose these words for this work, there was surely a question within him:
What is love? — a question every person spends a lifetime asking.
To distill that question into a single line, then to carve it onto paper with a brush, is the work of calligraphy.
Calligraphy is the act of giving a body to words.
The breath of the artist, the tremble of the hand, the scent of the ink — none of these exist in text typed on a keyboard, yet all of them dwell within a single finished work.
Standing before Love is about trying to see the best, one feels not only the meaning of the words, but something of how the man who wrote them faces love itself.
Shourin Iwasaki — The Calligrapher
Shourin Iwasaki is a calligrapher who engages with language every day, continuously searching through ink for the form most worthy of each word he encounters.
Grounded in classical calligraphic technique yet guided by a contemporary sensibility in his choice of words, every work he creates carries an unmistakable sense of necessity — as if this word could only ever be written this way.
His subjects range from philosophical phrases to quiet moments of everyday life, and each piece invites the viewer to pause and feel.
On Instagram, he shares new works and glimpses into his creative process regularly — not only finished pieces, but the tension of the brush in motion and the traces of thought behind each word chosen.
📱 Instagram: @iwasaki_shourin
An encounter with one of his works may bring a quiet word into your everyday life.
Follow him and let the world of Shourin Iwasaki become a part of your days.
＼ 岩﨑翔凛のInstagramはこちら！ ／
Bring Words into Your Space — Online Shop Now Open
And there is wonderful news.
An online shop where you can bring Shourin Iwasaki’s calligraphy works into your home or a cherished place has opened on STORES.
To hang a single work of calligraphy on your wall is to meet that word every morning.
On a rushed morning, on a tired evening, in the moment you happen to glance up — if the words Love is about trying to see the best were there waiting for you, imagine how it might settle your heart.
Calligraphy works carry a presence that printed reproductions simply cannot match — and each piece is one of a kind.
Even the same phrase, written on a different day, under different weather, in a different state of focus, will never be identical.
The piece you hold in your hands will be the only one of its kind in the world.
They also make deeply meaningful gifts.
A present chosen for the significance of its words will remain in the memory of the person who receives it for a long time to come.
🛒 Shourin Iwasaki — Calligraphy Works Online Shop https://shourin-iwasaki.stores.jp/
Please visit the shop when you have a moment.
There may be a piece waiting there that speaks directly to your heart.
＼ 岩﨑翔凛のSTORESはこちら！ ／
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