help with kanji symbols

[gregbeery]

can someone show me the kanji symbols for: " Imagination makes us shine ".
And also " visions of peace "
Or if you can "visions of ghandi"
Thank you.

[nice gaijin]

dare I ask what this is for?

[gregbeery]

I need the symbols for a tattoo. I'm getting the rising sun with kanji lettering around it.

[nice gaijin]

I can't tell you what to do, but I urge you to do a search on this forum for "tattoo" to consider the many problems with kanji tattoos. Just the phrases alone won't necessarily translate into anything that makes sense, assuming you get anything intelligible at all.

There are also many problems with tattoo artists that don't understand what they are writing. See www.hanzismatter.com for examples of this.

[Chidoriashi]

gregbeery> you are making a mistake that many people who know nothing about Japanese or other Asian languages make. You are thinking that because something sounds cool or poetic in English that it can translate and have the same nuance and charm in Japanese (or whatever). I also strongly suggest you reconsider. I see regret written all over this.

Not to mention, Japanese is not an all Kanji (Hanzi) language like Chinese, so to get sentences that make sense you need to use Kana as well. And I still say this will not have the impact you are hoping for. If you really want to get a Kanji tattoo I suggest you just get one word, like "Love" or "Peace" or whatever. You will just look silly to Japanese people if you try to get too fancy and poetic.

[katsumoto]

you can translate any sentense or word in this site ....


http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

[AJBryant]

And get total gibberish in the process...

[becki_kanou]

And get total gibberish in the process...

Indeed, for languages as structurally dissimilar as English and Japanese online translators are less than worthless.

:souka:Tony- People on TJP are starting to wonder where you had gotten to.

[caster51]

http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/phistory/100000/20080129120159496855552100.jpg

http://bbs.enjoykorea.jp/tbbs/read.php?board_id=phistory&page=2&nid=99742

[becki_kanou]

Those are quite clever! Nice find.

[Drew-san]

I'm parroting, but whatever.

You'll regret getting it in the future and it's pretty pointless to have a tattoo in Japanese lettering in the US besides it looking cool. Believe me it won't look cool for long either. If you do plan on going or staying in Japan, as other people said...
you are thinking that because something sounds cool or poetic in English that it can translate and have the same nuance and charm in Japanese (or whatever). I also strongly suggest you reconsider. I see regret written all over this.

I'll end my post with this.

From Basketbawful.blogspot.com
Back in the summer of 2003, Shawn Marion got a tattoo down his right leg in Chinese lettering that was supposedly a translation of his nickname "The Matrix." Only it wasn't. I mean, it really, really wasn't. Hanzi Smatter -- a site dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture -- noted that Shawn's tattoo really means, uh, something else:

魔 = Demon, evil spirits; magic power.

鳥 = Bird.

樟 = Camphor (a plant where its chemical exact is used for making moth balls).

That's right: Shawn Marion is Demon Bird Mothballs. I suggest you sit down and let the awe wash over you in a cool wave.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2646414780_6891951d3c_o.jpg

[becki_kanou]

That's funny. It could theoretically be read as マトリクス, (魔＝ま、鳥=とり、樟=くす) but still that's comedy gold.

[AMIGO]

If you really want to get a Kanji tattoo I suggest you just get one word, like "Love" or "Peace" or whatever. You will just look silly to Japanese people if you try to get too fancy and poetic.

Using some 四字熟語 is the best unmistakable way to write something poetic and significant in Japanese.

gregbeery, you can find hundreds of them in Internet, searching Yojijukugo on Google.

[Chidoriashi]

Yes, that is true.. but.. imagination makes us shine???.. I dont think that is in the mix... , this person wants something specific to his life.. and it wont work out right in Japanese... (not that he is even on this forum anymore..so it doesnt even matter now..) but people come here a lot with some weird *** poetic, whatever english phrases and think that it will sound soo cool in Japanese and want to get a tatoo... but they are ignorant, and dont realize how silly they sound and look to anybody that knows anything about this culture or language.... i was just trying to give him something simple and realistic, that he would not screw up.

[AMIGO]

I couldn't agree more, he has to choose some 四字熟語　but not to create any expresion. That would be the mistake.

I dislike tatoos, but I have a friend who has got a tatoo from a 四字熟語 in her back, and it looks nice. She is a student of Japanese language as well, and a Japan lover, so, in this case, the ignorance is not a problem. :relief: