Motifs
Each Mikofu motif is printed one at a time. The motifs come from Japanese nature, kept as simple as possible — the empty space around them matters as much as the line.
Here are the motifs currently available as prints, on paper or wood.
Nami — wave
The wave is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Yuki — snow
The snow is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Tsuki — moon
The moon is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Ma — negative space
The empty space around a motif matters as much as the line itself. It is where the room gets to breathe.
Fuji — Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Umi — ocean
The ocean is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Kaze — wind
The wind is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Ishi — stone
The stone is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Matsu — pine
The pine is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Hoshi — star
The star is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Sora — sky
The sky is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Kawa — river
The river is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Enso — circle
The circle is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Ryu — dragon
The dragon is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Take — bamboo
The bamboo is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Ame — rain
The rain is printed as a single motif, with empty space around it.
Samurai — kneeling figure
A figure kneeling, still. The stillness is the subject.
Kabuto — helmet
An empty helmet at rest. The warrior is elsewhere.
Ichigoichie — one encounter
One meeting, once. Then never again quite the same.
Wa — harmony
One character: harmony.
Nanakorobi — resilience
Fall seven times. Rise eight.
Ghost — ghost
A quiet figure, printed alone with plenty of room around it.
Engawa — rain
A figure seen from behind, still in the rain.
Ume — plum branch
One plum branch, a few early buds. Mostly quiet paper.
Susuki — pampas grass
Autumn grass, bending the one way the wind went.
Kiri — mist
A hillside half-given to mist.
Michi — the way
One character: the way.
Horizon — horizon
One line. Two quiet fields, meeting.
Dragonring — dragon in a ring
The dragon bends into a ring, almost an ensō.
Kaeru — frog
One frog, one stone. The pond otherwise still.
Ishibashi — stone bridge
One arch, holding the water's quiet.
Tsuru — cranes
A few marks in a wide sky, all moving the same way.
Shiro — castle
One castle keep, distant in the mist.
Chikurin — bamboo grove
Several trunks, rising upward.
Torii — gate
One gate. Mostly quiet paper.
Seigaiha — wave pattern
Rows of arcs, indigo on paper.
Asanoha — hemp leaf
A lattice of six-pointed stars.
Shippo — seven treasures
Circles overlapping. One warm tone where they meet.
Umemonyo — plum blossom pattern
Small blossoms on a thin branch, the paper given room.
Kintsugi — golden repair
A bowl mended in gold. The break is not hidden.
Chochin — paper lanterns
Two lanterns, one small light.
Jitensha — bicycle
One bicycle, low in the frame. Nobody is in a hurry.
Komorebi — sunlight through leaves
One word, set into the paper.
Ikigai — a reason to rise
One word, set into the paper.
Ibasho — a place where you belong
One word, set into the paper.
Furuike — the old pond
Bashō's haiku, set vertically.
Shizukasa — stillness
Bashō's haiku, set vertically.