Japanese, general discussion on the language
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Harisenbon
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by Harisenbon » Fri 11.07.2008 12:27 am
The first one is not sloppy. Both of these are standard computer fonts.
It's like having your tattoo written in Arial or Gothic (in fact, the second one is MS Gothic).
The fact that you cannot tell if the first one is correct or sloppy scares the bejesus out of me for getting a tattoo. You are not going to be able to tell if the kanji is written correctly or not when it is tattooed on to your girlfriend.
Also, if you're tempted to use 愛人, DO NOT. It has romantic meanings in Chinese, but in Japanese it means "The other woman" as in, the person who you are having affairs with that is not your wife/husband.
I kind of like these...
http://pds.exblog.jp/pds/1/200512/13/20 ... 415062.jpg
http://image.space.rakuten.co.jp/lg01/3 ... 1o7yo.jpeg
http://n-da.jp/usr/enjoy/%E6%84%9B.JPG
http://snize.jugem.cc/?image=250
But I would never trust a tattoo artist who didn't know Japanese/Chinese to get them right.
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becki_kanou
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by becki_kanou » Fri 11.07.2008 12:27 am
Those are both correct, although the fonts are not very attractive. Would you want an English tattoo written in Helvetica or (God forbid) Comic Sans? No, right? Then you probably don't want a generic computer font for your Japanese tattoo either.
Okay, I'll come out of the closet. I in fact have a kanji tattoo. The only way to make sure you get a good design is to have someone (preferably a NSJ) who knows calligraphy write it for you and then have the tattooist trace the exact design rather than doing it free hand. That's the way I had mine done and it came out rather well.

Last edited by
becki_kanou on Fri 11.07.2008 12:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
そうだ、嬉しいんだ、生きる喜び!
例え胸の傷が痛んでも。
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furrykef
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by furrykef » Fri 11.07.2008 12:30 am
Huh. I didn't know you could write kanji with saccharine.
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Yudan Taiteki
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by Yudan Taiteki » Fri 11.07.2008 12:41 am
Harisenbon wrote:
Also, if you're tempted to use 愛人, DO NOT. It has romantic meanings in Chinese
Depending on the place. In some parts of the PRC it has a romantic meaning, but in other places, and particularly in pretty much every place outside the PRC (including for Chinese-Americans), it means a mistress.
-Chris Kern
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Dehitay
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by Dehitay » Fri 11.07.2008 10:25 am
becki_kanou wrote:

I think I hate calligraphy. Too often is what I consider illegibility considered to be beauty.
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becki_kanou
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by becki_kanou » Fri 11.07.2008 6:58 pm
Dehitay wrote:becki_kanou wrote:
I think I hate calligraphy. Too often is what I consider illegibility considered to be beauty.
Is it really that illegible?
Some of Harisenbon's examples were on the illegible side, but I think the one I posted is pretty easy to read.
そうだ、嬉しいんだ、生きる喜び!
例え胸の傷が痛んでも。
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solidsnake360
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by solidsnake360 » Fri 11.07.2008 7:12 pm
becki_kanou wrote:Dehitay wrote:becki_kanou wrote:
I think I hate calligraphy. Too often is what I consider illegibility considered to be beauty.
Is it really that illegible?
Some of Harisenbon's examples were on the illegible side, but I think the one I posted is pretty easy to read.
Yeah it's easy to read. I'm only a beginner and I can tell it's 夢.
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Dehitay
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by Dehitay » Fri 11.07.2008 10:35 pm
solidsnake360 wrote:
Yeah it's easy to read. I'm only a beginner and I can tell it's 夢.
Ah, now I see, that middle part was supposed to be 2 different parts (in computer text format at least). I understood the upper and lower radical, but still couldn't make out the middle.
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Harisenbon
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by Harisenbon » Fri 11.07.2008 11:14 pm
becki_kanou wrote:Is it really that illegible?
Perfectly legible to me. It says 薔薇, right?
My friend has a tattoo of 虎 on him that he drew himself (he does know japanese). Unfortunately it's a little fat around some of the edges and looks more like 皮. My wife started laughing, and asked why he had "skin" written on his skin. Oops
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becki_kanou
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by becki_kanou » Fri 11.07.2008 11:16 pm
Harisenbon wrote:becki_kanou wrote:Is it really that illegible?
Perfectly legible to me. It says 薔薇, right?
My friend has a tattoo of 虎 on him that he drew himself (he does know japanese). Unfortunately it's a little fat around some of the edges and looks more like 皮. My wife started laughing, and asked why he had "skin" written on his skin. Oops
A Hanshin fan?
そうだ、嬉しいんだ、生きる喜び!
例え胸の傷が痛んでも。
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Harisenbon
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by Harisenbon » Sat 11.08.2008 10:09 pm
becki_kanou wrote:A Hanshin fan?
I forget what meaning it held for him, but he BETTER not be a hanshin fan. This is Dragons territory.
Speaking of which, we have a joshin electronics store here, and of course they're completely decked out in Hanshin decorations. This makes it rather stressful whenever Hashin goes against Chunichi. The entire mall will be decked out in Chunichi swag EXECPT for Joshin, who are blaring Hanshin music as loud as they can.
Uppity kansai bastards.

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becki_kanou
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by becki_kanou » Sat 11.08.2008 10:55 pm
A couple of years back it was the same situation here. The whole shopping center was done up in Hanshin colors, except of course the Daiei. (This is before they became the Softbank Hawks).
そうだ、嬉しいんだ、生きる喜び!
例え胸の傷が痛んでも。
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guillermo
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by guillermo » Sun 11.09.2008 1:18 am
tanuki wrote:
"Kanji para Tatús" actually means "Kanji for Armadillos".
(The proper word for "tattoo" in Spanish is "tatuaje".)
Kanji para tatús means, here in Spain, Kanji para tatuajes.
Its possible that tatú means armadillo in your country. In Venezuela for example, an armadillo is a cachicamo, not a tatú...
Sorry for the ot...
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furrykef
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by furrykef » Sun 11.09.2008 1:20 am
Lo de dialectos de español me vuelven loco...
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guillermo
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by guillermo » Sun 11.09.2008 1:27 am
Harisenbon wrote:同性愛 means homosexual, so you should stay away from that one.

@Steve
To learn japanese could be a better idea...