Thinking about getting a kanji tattoo or kanji jewel? Then, arm yourself with this information before buying anything. This can be the difference between being cool and national humiliation.
What? National humiliation? OK, national humiliation is an unlikely outcome, but an article in the March 1, 2005 Washington Post Express shows that the possibility is there. "Lost in Translation" looked at the real dangers facing the unwary consumers who kanji tattoos.
I'm not kidding when I say "real dangers". But neither I refer to the practice of tattooing unhygenic. What I mean is-toe curlingly appalling linguistic errors. Specifically, I mean kanji combinations like this:
- Extremely leave military affairs
- Crazy Diarrhea
- Weird (tattooed on one B. Spears)
Yes, these are phrases that real people (yes, Britney Spears is a real person) actually had tattooed on his skin.
To be honest, I'm not entirely surprised at these and other errors. After all, I have seen many reversed images of kanji offered for tattoos, and kanji jewelry that simply did not mean anything as it should.
A necklace, remember, had the kanji for "road" in which - despite the poor owner had said it meant love. I guess his love for the road and not come back no more, no more, no more ....
As Tian Tang puts it online:
"People ask me:" I have a tattoo, can you tell me what this means and I like it? "Why did not you before you get this tattoo?" "
Yes, one would think that would be the obvious thing to do - especially if you are getting something permanent like a kanji tattoo. So how can you be sure that you do not end with a national laughing stock?
First of all, make sure you know something about the Japanese language. Discover the wealth of information on sites japanese.about.com and five minutes to get to know more about kanji, hiragana and katakana than most of the people around you have tattooed on their skin.
So, remember that often there is no such thing as an accurate translation. Basic nouns are one thing - the table is a table is a table, after all. But abstract concepts, like Semper Fidelis (the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps), can be notoriously difficult to translate well.
Once you understand this basic material, you are ready to meet the tattoo artist. That's right - meet. Do not do anything yet. First, only words. In particular, we want to find out how familiar it is with the issues mentioned above. If, after an hour or so on the internet you know more Japanese than your tattoo artist, you must be very careful about kanji she suggests.
So what can you do if your tattoo artist does not know his kanji of his katakana? How is the kanji yourself?
Well, if you are sure your new kanji knowledge, then there are a number of online dictionaries that can help.
Otherwise, I recommend getting a translation - Japanese-Name-Translation.com A good translator will be able to offer a number of different options and explain the exact meaning and pronunciation of the kanji different. They must also be able to offer a number of different styles, from the simplest sources of kanji calligraphy Shodo calligraphy a true Japanese.
At the end of the day, you decide how to go about getting your kanji tattoo is up to you. Remember that preparation is the key to not getting a tattoo kanji "Lost in Translation."
