Getting a Kanji tattoo.
 

Hi! I'm planning on getting a tattoo written in Kanji. I was hoping that I could get some help to verify the signs, as it would suck if I get it wrong.
The tattoo is going to say 'to the stars', it's a part of the latin phrase 'ad astra per aspera' (to the stars through difficulties). The signs I got from an online translator is 星に. Is it wrong? Or did I get it right?

Thanks in advance! :ywave:

It's Monday, so I guess we are due for another round of "bad tattoo ideas."

Actually this is far from the worst idea I have seen.

星へ

is the phrase I would use. The problem is, though, it doesn't really mean anything in japanese...at least not as much as in English.

"To the stars" has meaning in English but 星へ looks like an incomplete sentence (or in this case tattoo).

If I wanted this for a tattoo, I would probably stick with the Latin.

Something seems a little assbackwards when you want to get a latin phrase tattoo'd in Chinese script.


KANJI TATTOOS ARE BAD. ALWAYS.

Thank you!

I really want to have it in Kanji (or Katakana/hiragana for that matter) as there is a lot that I admire about Japan and its culture, if you look. If it's not too much trouble, how would the whole phrase look?

If you truly admired Japan and it's culture you wouldn't get a Kanji tattoo.

@burkhartdesu:
If you don't like the idea I don't see the reason for you posting in this thread. You've made your point.

There are two "official" translations. Normally I wouldn't do this, but because there are official translations I will give you those:

困難を切り抜けて星まで

or

困難を克服して星を目指そう

If you think about it, how is it admiring the Japanese culture to get a phrase from a 3rd party language translated into Japanese?

This is a very bad idea, pure and simple. If you're dead set on it, go research an appropriate Japanese proverb.

As is, you are coming off as someone who wants it in Kanji simply because it would 'look cool.'

I was told that Kanji would be the best way to write this. Therefore I asked about the Kanji translation.

Thank you MMM for your help, much appreciated! But I can see that I'm not the first to ask for this kind of assistance and that it's not that welcome anymore, so I'll just silently take my leave.

Just curious, who told you kanji was the best way to write this?

I think your welcome here was not warm, and it is partially my fault, but your suspicions are correct, and kanji tattoo advice is commonly requested here. Some requesters are more sincere than others. I hope you will excuse the attack dogs.

Drunk Whore?

I was told so on another forum similar to this one. Can't remember the name of it though, and it didn't pop up on Google either.

The reason why I am considering getting it written in Japanese is, as I stated earlier, that I like the culture and history of the country and I thought it could be a good idea to incorporate that into it.

On the subject of the attack dogs, I suppose I could've searched a bit more in this forum before posting this thread, so I suppose I should take some of the blame myself.

Pretty much

I think if you were looking to honor Japanese culture, a word or phrase that was originally Japanese makes a little more sense to me...as I think the phrase you have chose is hard enough to understand in English, much less Japanese, despite the official translations.

This may be a total miss, but is there a Japanese phrase or saying that is similar? I'm still looking at options and nothing is written in stone yet, so I'm open for suggestions.

What I want this tattoo to say is that although the shit has hit the fan, things will get better.

The best one I can think of off the top of my head is a Okinawa expression:

なんくるないさ

This basically means no matter how bad things seem, they will always get better.

Is that Hiragana?

Yes, this phrase seems to be only in hiragana.

I first heard this in Blood+

Pretty much one of the (extremely) few acceptable Japanese tattoos.

Like if you got it in a concealed spot and it had a significant meaning to you.
(imo)



There are some things that just loose it's value when translated into Japanese. I think this person's idea is one of those. Not to mention I'm totally opposed to Kanji tattoos.

Getting this in it's original Latin script would look a lot "cooler" and be a much better idea.

Actually, that's where I first heard it, too.

Getting a Japanese anecdote makes a little more sense.

And for the record, Kanji is Chinese (in origin). So getting it because you respect Japanese culture is kind of a mute-point.

No need to nit-pick. Kanji is just as much a part of Japanese culture as chopsticks and raw fish.

*seconds MMM's comments*

And it's "moot point". So many people have been getting that wrong lately, it's becoming annoying.

I'm personally a fan of the kanji tattoo I got. I did a complete scan, and researched my butt off. And, I like the end result. :] Certainly not the last Japanese-themed tattoo I'll have.

My next tattoo idea is a very certain lightning demon with a classic clay bomb in his mouth.

As for getting a LATIN phrase in Japanese...? I dunno... I don't recommend it.

get the 9 tail demon seal on your belly. not only will it look cool it will give you power. i always thought that kanji tattoos were dumb, what's the purpose in having a tattoo that you don't understand but had to look up or ask about? tattoo's are about something meaningful and personal, looking something up because you think others will bring up a conversation about "what does that say" "i think it says blah blah" is pretty lame.

Hi guys!

First of all, thank you for your time and advice! I guess I may have been a bit hasty on thinking about getting it done in Kanji, thinking it could most likely be easily translated, just like Norwegian and English (I'm Norwegian) I can see that this isn't the case, so I suppose I should reconsider and do some more research.

@ alanX: The thing about getting it in a concealed place is that I want to see it everyday as a reminder. Without becoming to emotional, I used to struggle a lot with depressions and anxiety. That is why I liked the latin phrase. The reason why I thought it may be a good idea to get in in Kanji was to incorporate my interest in Japan into it. The way MMM described it to me was actually appealing. The part about it looking incomplete. This is because I'm not done with it all, and when I am I want it as a reminder of the way to get there.

@ JackIsLost: No, I will not get that, as it has no significant meaning to me. Yeah, cool imagery, cool story, but I can't link to it personally.

If you were to read
星へ
by itself, what would that mean? After the little I know I read it as 'to the star'

i think you should take an elementary japanese language course. after that you will realize that is an incomplete sentence. hard to describe because i'm only elementary level. i was joking about the nine tail demon seal on your belly, i was just comparing how utterly pointless it is to get something you don't understand.

Edit: i just showed my JAPANESE girlfriend 星へ and she says it's so freakin' dumb. "sounds like you are going to die soon, because we think that when we die we are going to be the stars." so... yeah... it's not complete so nobody knows what to think but assume.

I already knew what kanji to use. It's better to check and re-check though, just in case.

I read in a tattoo magazine about this guy who asked a Chinese cook at a Chinese cuisine if he could write down, in Chinese, the guy's name so that he could get it as a tattoo. A few days afterward, the guy fond out it meant Coca-Cola. Hah.

You should get this tattooed:

漢字で全部は神秘だ

Reminds me of my favorite Latin phrase: Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.

Cool. About the only kanji you could insert anyway would be 来 in there, because 何 would be read as なに.

Which means...?

You can google the Latin. It's a very famous phrase.

And why would I give you the English translation of the Japanese? Shouldn't you try to translate it yourself? There is the possibility of you cut-and-pasting + using online dictionaries, you know.

I would just really love for OP to get what I suggested tattooed.

You aren't talking to me about the Japanese-to-English translation, are you? I've got all the kanji I want on my body for a while. I want to focus on better tattoo ideas than just words. I believe I already mentioned it in one of my previous posts on this thread.

I believe I repeatedly mentioned in my posts "OP" should do it. I see you're not from an English speaking country, so maybe you just don't know what "OP" means. "OP" stands for "original poster," and it means the person who started a thread. You're not the OP here.

Wow, no need to be a douchebag. :\

I wasn't being a douchebag. You're projecting. I'm very forgiving to non-natives who don't know English internet slang, having been in your shoes but with Japanese internet slang as my obstacle.

I've lived in America all my life, thanks bud.

You made no attempt to mention the original poster in this line... "And why would I give you the English translation of the Japanese? Shouldn't you try to translate it yourself? There is the possibility of you cut-and-pasting + using online dictionaries, you know."

And that's why I questioned. Thank you...

Sorry, but when I saw "Kranken Haus" in your location, I assumed you were in Germany or something. I guess that kind of misunderstanding is bound to happen when you make up a location.

I don't intend to disclose my actual location. It seems pointless.

Any-Way...