A vintage hand-painted souvenir stone featuring a traditional Japanese haiku. The calligraphy reads:
「神にませばまこと美はし那智の滝」 "Kami ni maseba makoto uruwashi Nachi no taki" "If it belongs to the gods, truly beautiful is Nachi Falls." — by Kyoshi Takahama, one of Japan’s most celebrated haiku poets.
Smooth and polished, this dark river stone captures the serene spirit of Nachi Falls, one of Japan’s most sacred and scenic waterfalls located in Wakayama Prefecture. The soft brushstrokes and traditional kanji are paired with a subtle landscape illustration, evoking the natural harmony between words and place.
In Japanese culture, stones carry profound symbolic meaning, deeply rooted in spiritual tradition, aesthetics, and the natural world. Far more than just physical objects, stones are seen as representations of permanence, stability, and the quiet strength of nature. Their unchanging presence stands in contrast to the transient beauty of elements like cherry blossoms or flowing water, making them powerful symbols of endurance and timelessness.
In Shinto belief, certain stones—called iwakura—are considered sacred, serving as dwelling places for kami, the divine spirits that inhabit the natural world. These stones are often venerated at shrines or left undisturbed in forests and mountains, embodying a spiritual connection between the physical world and the unseen forces that shape it. Size:
6 x 3 x 14cm
