Chinese reading: Bu jiao zhi jiao. ‘Teaching by not teaching’. Chinese saying. Calligraphy in cursive (sōsho) style by Nozaki Kakunan 野崎嶽南 (1925-2010). Dated: 丁丑年 [Heisei 9 = 1997].
Chinese poem in 5 syllable quatrains by the Qing Dynasty poet Wang Yuyang [Shizhen] 王魚洋[士禎] (1634-1711). Calligraphy in cursive (sōsho) style by Okada Keisetsu 岡田契雪 (1936-). Inscription on inside of box lid dated March 1998 [Heisei 10] : 平成十年三月岡田契雪自識
Ōtaki ya niji o tsuranuku iwatsubame 大瀧や虹をつらぬく岩つばめ
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‘At the Great Waterfall the martin pierces the rainbow’. Haiku by Shunjūan Jun’ichi 春秋庵準一 (1881-1966). Mixed kanji/kana calligraphy by Suzuki Matsuko 鈴木まつ子 (1932-).
Chinese poem (kanshi) by the Japanese monk Ryōkan (1758-1831). Calligraphy in semi-cursive (gyōsho) style by Takada Kōha 高田香坡 (1934-) . Dated Heisei 9 [1997] on box. Text: 青陽二月初物色稍新鮮此時持鉢孟騰々入市廛児童忽見我欣然相将来要我寺門前携我歩 / 遅々放孟白石上掛嚢青松枝千批闘百艸千批打毬子我打渠且歌我歌渠打之打去又打来不知 / 時節移行人顧我問曷由其如斯低頭不應他道得亦何似要知箇中意元来祇這是.
Mono mina no soko ni hitotsu no hō ari to hi ni ke ni fukaku omoi-iritsutsu 物みなの底に一つの法ありと日にけに深くおもひいりいつつ
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Poem on the underlying law of nature by Nobel prize-winning physicist Yukawa Hideki 湯川秀樹 (1907-1981). Mixed kanji/kana calligraphy by Takeda Etsudō 竹田悦堂 (1918-2004). Dated 平成九年三月 [March 1997] (on lid).
Bankō midareokotte ware i o shiri 萬紅亂起吾知異 ; Senji fukikiete oni mo azakerazu 千紫吹消鬼不嘲
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Pair of 7-character Chinese poems by Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) from his novel Meian 明暗. Calligraphy in clerical (reisho) style by Takenaka Seiko 竹中青琥 (1938-). Dated 戊寅 [Heisei 10 = 1998].