Japanese Symbols?

Question

My husband and I were discussing the trend of getting tattoos in Japanese symbols, and he mentioned that there is no symbol for his name. He then went on to say that there are in fact no symbols at all for English names. I said that the names would have to be written out in several symbols according to the Japanese alphabet, and he said that couldn't even be done because the English alphabet can't be translated into Japanese symbols. Any one with any knowledge of this please contribute, as I think that is ridiculous. Thanks!

Answer 1

Disclaimer: Ever see that episode of Newsradio titled "Super Karate Monkey Death Car"? It does a great job illustrating how much can be lost when carelessly translating from Japanese to English & vice versa. I think tattoos are generally a bad idea. Getting a tattoo that you don't understand is a HORRIBLE idea.

That aside, your husband is wrong. There are 3 ways to write your name in Japanese. 2 ways involve kanji, which are the exotic-looking symbols that you probably want to use. The other way involves katakana, a much more boring, yet efficient set of characters.

There are several thousand kanji. Each kanji character is packed with meaning & has their own set of pronunciations. Sometimes kanji with identical prononciation can have contradictory meanings! Therefore kanji should be handled with great care.

There are only about 50 katakana. These are all very simple looking & have no inherent meaning. They simply express sound, so Westerners have a difficult time getting excited about them & rarely use them for tattoos.

Method #1: Take the root meaning of your name and find the corresponding Japanese character. For example, in the USA, the name Emily means something like Eager & Bright. So you could find the corresponding kanji.

One must be very careful using this method. You cannot just take any kanji that approximate Eager & Bright. You wouldn't want to accidentally tattoo yourself as Horny & Naive when you meant something more like Diligent & Cheerful. It would be best to find someone you trust who is fluent in both English & Japanese who understands the idea behind your name. Best bet is to consult a native Japanese speaker well versed in Western culture.

The problem with this method is that even a name very well crafted to reproduce the meaning behind your name will be usually be pronounced nothing like the English counterpart. Remember-the whole point of a name is to let people know how to address you! This takes us to...

Method #2: Find Japanese characters that are pronounced like your name, then stick them together. Emily is a great name for this method because it happens to be common in both the West & Japan. The combination of the kanji used to spell Emily mean Beautfiul & Elegant.

This method usually doesn't work. For example, I tried translating my name (Jack) with this method & best I could come up with was Noble Feral Dog. But because Emily is a pretty common name in Japan, it is usually understood as Beautiful & Elegant. Still, another group of characters pronounced as Emily could mean something like Swimming Ghost.

Another drawback is that the meaning behind the name is changed. But how many of you even knew the Western meaning behind the name Emily anyway?

Remember that these 2 methods of name translation are very uncommon & should be done with great care, especially if you're going to permanently print them on your body.

Method #3: Katakana is really the only safe way to translate your name into Japanese. These are simple Japanese letters used to reproduce foreign sounds or even onomatopoeia. They are extremely easy to learn. Like I said before, you don't have to worry about what they mean. You can learn katakana using free online flashcards provided in the link below.

The other link provided just shows how stupid people can be when trying to tattoo themselves with Asian characters. Good luck!

Answer 2

You're both right. Basically, a name that is foreign to the Japanese people (for example, Donald Duck or Coca Cola) is write-able in Japanese, but it would be written using a special alphabet called Katakana, rather than a single, pictoral symbol.

The Japanese people use a complicated mixture of 4 writing systems--Kanji, Katakana, Hiragana, and Romaji. You can look up these terms in an encyclopedia if you want to know the details, but just know that Kanji are symbols (pictures) that represent entire words, while Katakana, Hiragana, and Romaji are true alphabets (letters that represent sounds). Katakana is the alphabet that the Japanese use for writing foreign words.

Having said all that...... Kanji (symbols) would NOT be used for writing your husband's name on a tattoo. Katakana would be used instead.

Answer 3

You can't get your name tatooed in Kanji, if you are supposing that, because there are no direct translations. But fortunately if REALLY want, you can get your names tatooed in katakana, it has no meaning..its just Japanese scripts used to utter foreign sounds. All Japanese scripts are syllabic in nature, and even then, there are some syllables that the Japanese cannot say, coffee for instance turns into kohee (it's a hard "h" sound, so it sounds almost like an "f")

Answer 4

English names are translated to japanese sounds in a standard way, that is how all foreigners are called in japan, and although it sounds different one would know what his english name is.

Beware that the tattoo will probably look like schoolchildren handwriting if it is not drawn by an experienced calligrapher.

But there is the advantage that no one will need to ask his name any more.

Another option would be to get a chinese name, but you would need help of a native speaker to help you.

Perhaps it's best to write his name in Elvish or in Runes, so there won't be anyone who can read it to laugh of him.

Answer 5

There are several Japanese alphabets. The one used for non-Japanese (gairaigo) words is katakana. You can still write your name using (usually) one character per syllable. You can google images for katakana and find a whole chart.

The sounds may be slightly different. For example: "Tim" would be made of a "ti" and a "mu" (silent u if it's on the end).

Answer 6

If your name could in any way be translated to Japanese, you could do it that way--for example, if your name were "Rose," you could be tattooed w the kanji for rose. Etc. Otherwise you'd have to resort to katakana, which I personally think would look TOTALLY RIDICULOUS. That is one bandwagon you'd best not jump on!!

Answer 7

there is katakana, used for the japanese to pronounce the english lanuguage. for example-
ワタ- water.... the japanes pronouce it wa-ta....

theres higarana-- used normally by the japanese.

Answer 8

tell your hubby he is completly wrong!