# Can anyone read kanji, or know which way is up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085 "2010-11-27T19:04:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/1 "2010-11-27T19:04:04Z")
My wife bought some interesting fabric a few years back that she wants to make a shirt out of. It appears to be Japanese / Chinese writing, in red, on a black background, but she’s not sure which way to orient the fabric. I put a photo of the writing (it’s 1,000 pixels wide) on my website ([www.planetpeschel.com](http://www.planetpeschel.com)) that can be reached below: [http://www.planetpeschel.com/kanji1.jpg](http://www.planetpeschel.com/kanji1.jpg) Can anyone tell if this is oriented properly? Recognize any of the symbols? I’d hate to appear in public in this shirt and end up offending someone. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/2 "2010-11-27T19:27:37Z")
It is oriented properly. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/3 "2010-11-27T19:46:34Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > It is oriented properly. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/4 "2010-11-27T19:47:53Z")
That’s right-way-up. I’d hate to have a Chinese-reading person come up to me and ask why I was wearing the Emperor’s shopping list though… ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/5 "2010-11-27T20:07:24Z")
It’s definitely Japanese, and it is oriented right-way-up. It looks too antique for someone of my skills to read, but I’ll bet there are a few dopers who could take a reasonable shot at it. ---
**Author:** ![ragerdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ragerdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ragerdude)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/6 "2010-11-27T20:24:27Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Ouch. Why is that an “ouch”? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/7 "2010-11-27T20:29:54Z")
The proper term is if it is asianed properly. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/8 "2010-11-27T20:56:12Z")
What about the group of 4 large characters on the left hand side of the image? 3 of these appear (to me at least) to be upside-down. Though I realise it doesn’t make sense that they would be upside-down, so maybe I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/9 "2010-11-27T21:02:49Z")
The one in the upper left is obviously a pictograph of Cthulhu. Wearing it will mark you as one of His acolytes. Seriously, it looks odd, not like kanji at all. The one directly below it also looks weird, like it was upside down. The one to the right of those and about halfway between looks a bit scribbly but okay. I’m not sure what the ones on the far, far left are supposed to be. The vertical line about a third in is Japanese kana, although it is very cursivelike. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/10 "2010-11-27T21:11:32Z")
The ones on the left look like [Old Chinese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/11 "2010-11-27T21:14:02Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > What about the group of 4 large characters on the left hand side of the image? > > 3 of these appear (to me at least) to be upside-down. Though I realise it doesn’t make sense that they would be upside-down, so maybe I’m wrong. No, they are right side up. They are fairly stylized, though, so they look out of balance. But there do appear to be different writing styles involved, which makes me wonder if all the text is related. The four symbols inside a square are probably someone’s name, or the name of the shop where this was produced. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/12 "2010-11-27T21:38:25Z")
BTW, the text groupings are repeated on this cloth. The stuff on the upper right can also be seen on the lower left. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/13 "2010-11-27T21:59:04Z")
It’s certainly a mix of styles- you have a name seal, some calligraphy (which is often stylized to the point that nobody can read it) and what does indeed look like seal script. I recognize a few characters here and there, but nothing coherent. Given the mix of styles, I’d venture that it is almost certainly gibberish. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/14 "2010-11-28T00:53:45Z")
> [@ragerdude](#): > > Why is that an “ouch”? Because “oriented” was quite punny, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/15 "2010-11-28T01:00:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Can anyone read kanji, or know which way is up? No. The Japanese have been faking it all this time. Their newspapers are plagiarized from old Leningrad phone books and their novels are reconstructed from Chinese restaurant take-out menus. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/16 "2010-11-28T01:36:16Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > Because “oriented” was quite punny, dude. Right, but since the OP used that word himself… ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-read-kanji-or-know-which-way-is-up/562085/17 "2010-11-28T03:36:57Z")
It’s not oriented properly. Well, parts of it are, and parts are not. Some are upside down and/or mirror images (left hand side). There are some name chops. It’s jibberish from a Chinese perspective. My limited Japanese also pegs it as a mish-mash of jibberish.