Japanese tattoos are cool. But if a personal translator is out of the league how can you avoid becoming a kanji fashion victim, and locks with a tattoo you will really regret?
1. Feel the difference - hiragana, katakana and kanji
Before you tell the tattoo artist, make sure you know what you're talking about. You say you want a Japanese tattoo, but what do you know about Japanese characters? Do you need a quick stint in 2 minutes of Boot Camp in Japan.
First, it is clear that there is no Japanese "alphabet". There are three sets of Japanese characters - hiragana, katakana and kanji - and each group has its own history, function and style. Keep your head around these facts and you know over 99% of people walking around with Japanese tattoos right now:
Hiragana - These simple, rounded characters represent sounds, but has no independent significance. They were developed by women in the Heian period and are still considered feminine by Japanese.
Katakana - Developed by Buddhist monks around the time hiragana, these are simple characters, angles also represent sounds and have no meaning. You saw them cascading down the screen of the matrix (although they were backwards!)
Kanji - from China, these characters are like pictures, representing a meaning and also several different sounds depending on the situation.
I just read what probably gave an idea of the style you want for your tattoo - but do not stop, not yet! Now you know what kind of Japanese characters there are, we will ...
2. Writing styles
Come a little closer. Sit down at the screen. That's right. Now look at the words in front of you. Take a good, close look at the shapes of these letters. OK? Now tell me honestly: Do you want a tattoo in Times New Roman? How about Tahoma? What is it? You do not have a tattoo by Canon or Epson? Of course, you do not. And likewise, you do not want your tattoo looks like a Japanese print either!
So now we move on to writing styles. Just as there are three kinds of Japanese characters, there are also three ways they can be written. Do not worry. It's easy! I know you think you can not even read Japanese, so how on earth you should be able to recognize these different styles? Well, try this:
Kaisho - in capital letters. You will learn how to write the alphabet in this way, and Japanese children learn to write characters in exactly the same way: As the Volvo - boxy but good.
Gyousho - italics. You moved to the middle school and learned you could write faster by letting the parts of some letters flow into the next. Yes, you guessed it - the Japanese do the same, and they call it gyousho.
Sousho - Super-cursive letters. Ever seen a prescription from a doctor? So you know what is sousho in Japanese: Sure, the writer or some other trained person can (probably) read it, but nobody has an idea of what it says!
Are you the picture? If you want to look like a computer printout, so my guest and go to the Kaisho style. It is your choice. But I think you probably want to use either or gyousho sousho your tattoo. My personal preference would gyousho: He is intelligent, but he will not leave even native speakers baffled.
3rd True or false?
Remember I mentioned Mel C at the beginning? Well guess what kanji tattooed on his arm? That's right - "Girl Power": Great in English, but show this kanji combination to most Japanese and get a blank stare at best. Want a bad example? Try "Big Daddy". Now you know what that means in English, but put it into kanji and you end up with "great father"! It just does not.
I'm sure you remember that kanji are the only characters that have meaning and sound. And their beauty means that they are what people want for their tattoos. But beware: In addition to being popular, can also be the most dangerous!
Let's see if we can find an example here: Look carefully at the examples above. What are they communicating - concrete concepts or abstract ideas? You see the difficulty the translators had? Kanji for "dragon", "Samurai", "love" or other concrete ideas are pretty easy to find. But go for anything, in the sense of speech, and seeks to facilitate the translation is going to headaches!
Just a thought, but how this suggestion: Instead of trying to force a round peg into a square hole in Japanese English, why not find a real Japanese phrase that you like and get that place? Bushidou (The Road Warrior) and Ninjutsu (The Art of Stealth) are two good examples of real Japanese terms that would make great tattoos.
4th Your name in Japanese
As I'm sure you remember the camp 2 minutes start Japanese, katakana are the characters usually used to write foreign words and names. So if you want to get a tattoo of your name, technically it would be the character you choose. But I guess like most people, you will have your name written in kanji.
Do a quick search on Google and you will find a number of sites that specialize in translating names into kanji. There are basically two different methods that these sites use, so let's look here.
Translating the meaning
This method is to discover the original meaning of the English name, and then search the kanji equivalent.
". A crown," for example, my name comes from the Greek word which is crowned king, so I can translate my name in kanji for king and call me ohsama (perhaps a bit pretentious. - And disturbingly similar to the name of Bin Laden)
Translating sound
It is much harder! Browse a dictionary and find a bunch of kanji that can be combined to look like his name. But the sound is not all: Remember that kanji have meaning as well. In fact, it is even more complex than that! Be sure to check each of the following factors with anyone who translates your name like using this method:
First Sound - This sounds like your name or not? I saw my name "translated" on certain websites like Stefan. Shame my name (Stephen) is actually said the same as Steven!
2nd On-Yomi and Kun-Yomi - Yes, more technical words! But do not worry - they are easy to understand: Basically, kanji have two kinds of reading. One type, on-Yomi is their original Chinese sound. The second, Kun-Yomi is their only Japanese audio. What to see is that (like oil and water) in Yomi and Kun-Yomi not mix. Use any or all of Yomi Yomi readings Kun-reading to make the sound of your name.
3rd Meaning - Do kanji have meaning together? Now it can be very difficult to find kanji that sound right and have a good sense, so you may need to compromise a little on one of these.
4. Man or woman - I guess it looks more like a sub-category of meaning, but is something that should be consulted to avoid embarrassment. For example, while "Asian Beauty" may be an ideal combination for a woman, I feel most men would not be very happy to have it permanently on your skin type!
5. If you are unsure, check!
First, use your knowledge of Japanese to ask some tough questions to your tattoo artist or kanji "specialist". If you feel you do not know what they're talking, you may want to look elsewhere.
Then, before you get anything permanent done, use an online dictionary to check whether the Japanese really means what you want. You may not be able to input Japanese yourself, but you can copy and paste characters from an email or website and see what they mean.
Finally, if you're lucky enough to know anything, please ask a Japanese person what they think. Their confused expression may tell you that you have to come up with another "Big Daddy"!
Follow these tips and avoid dangerous pitfalls of Japanese tattoos and get a kanji tattoo you can be proud.
