# Kanji **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570 "2007-07-20T18:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blized](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Blized](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blized)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/1 "2007-07-20T18:09:50Z")
New poster long time reader I have been thinking about getting a Kanji tattoo, but I do not want to get something that i think means one thing but actually means another. I am just wondering if any of you know if this symbol actually means “Happiness” > **[开云全站网页版(中国)有限公司](https://www.tattoosymbol.com/kanji/kanji-happiness.html)** > > 开云全站网页版(中国)有限公司成立于2001年05月（于2003年05月在港交所上市），企业注册资金9500万元，目前企业总资产达50.98亿元，是国家定点锅炉、A2级压力容器生产制造大型企业，是较早生产燃油、燃气锅炉的企业之一。公司以锅炉、压力容器制造为基础，建立了从产品开发、工程项目设计、设备制造到工程安装、系统调试及售前、售中、售后服务为一体的产业体系。 ---
**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:** [July 20, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/2 "2007-07-20T18:24:37Z")
[QUOTE=Blized] New poster long time reader I have been thinking about getting a Kanji tattoo, but I do not want to get something that i think means one thing but actually means another. I am just wondering if any of you know if this symbol actually means “Happiness” [www.tattoosymbol.com/kanji/kanji-happiness.html](http://www.tattoosymbol.com/kanji/kanji-happiness.html) [/QUOTE] In actual meaning it is closer to “lucky” but for some reason translators often translate it as “happy”. I sympathize with you in advance about the avalanche of snide responses you’re probably going to get about why you shouldn’t get a kanji tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/3 "2007-07-20T18:42:51Z")
It’s been a few years since I studied Japanese, but don’t many of the characters have multiple possible meanings? If that’s the case, it might not be possible to find a character that means “only” what you want. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/4 "2007-07-20T18:48:38Z")
Yeah, a lot of people are going to tell you that it’s a bad idea to have something that you can’t read indelibly written on your skin. If I were going to get “happiness” as a tattoo, that is not the character I would choose. Some possibly better choices: 幸 幸福 喜 ---
**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:** [July 20, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/5 "2007-07-20T18:53:44Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] It’s been a few years since I studied Japanese, but don’t many of the characters have multiple possible meanings? If that’s the case, it might not be possible to find a character that means “only” what you want. [/QUOTE] This is true but the one mentioned by the OP ( 福 ) is pretty reliable. If you want to get downright technical about it, it doesn’t have any meaning at all. It signifies the word fragments _fuku_ or _saiwai_ which generally mean happiness or good luck, although they can be used purely for sound value as part of some other word. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/6 "2007-07-20T18:56:05Z")
**Brain Wreck** , where were you when I needed to know how to write “You gonna eat that?” for a tattoo I wanted… ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/7 "2007-07-20T21:09:36Z")
How about a nice proverb instead? [http://www.oneaday.org/archives.html](http://www.oneaday.org/archives.html) [Wild with joy](http://www.oneaday.org/2006/10/to_be_happy_at_heart_like_flow.html) [Happy and pleased with oneself](http://www.oneaday.org/2005/11/happy_and_pleased_with_oneself.html) [May you be happy and prosperous](http://www.oneaday.org/2005/02/may_you_be_happy_and_prosperou.html) [To dance for joy](http://www.oneaday.org/2005/07/to_dance_for_joy_great_excitem.html) [Never forget the source of your happiness](http://www.oneaday.org/2007/06/when_drinking_water_remember_w.html) [Beam with happiness](http://www.oneaday.org/2007/04/a_mans_happiness_can_be_told_b.html) Just a note, the font is not considered attractive. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/8 "2007-07-20T21:19:57Z")
I won’t be among those saying you shouldn’t get a kanji tattoo (though it is somewhat faddish and I have to resist the urge to look down on flash). But if you are going to get a kanji make sure you get it from someone with a decent sense of calligraphy. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/9 "2007-07-20T23:25:33Z")
Are you frakkin’ kidding me? Are you frakkin’ kidding? How could you even think about getting a permanent mark on your body in a language/culture you don’t understand? What are you trying to say to others that the language you and they actually do understand can’t convey? Good fucking christ. Pfft, god I’m gonna FUCKING PIT you. USE YOUR BRAIN. Jeebus fucking christ talk about masturbation. Ooooo look at the pretty letters… . ---
**Author:** ![Blized](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Blized](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blized)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/10 "2007-07-21T00:56:41Z")
Kanji just seemed to be the best it is small and can easily fit on the under side of my wrist. I have been thinking of other symbols for happiness but I can not find much ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/11 "2007-07-21T01:49:05Z")
[http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MKJʡ](http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MKJ%CA%A1) Here’s more information than you probably need about the character in question. The various links on the page will provide you with all sorts of information and ways to find kanji. Not the most user-friendly interface in the world, but the amount of information and ways to search for things is amazing. Play around a bit and I’m sure you can find a few happinesses. Oh, and, yeah, the one you provide has meanings of blessing, fortune, wealth and luck. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/12 "2007-07-21T02:08:28Z")
I don’t think you whooshed 'im, **Operation Ripper**. My name can be spelled out phonetically in kanji with the characters for ‘woman’ and ‘flower’. 女 - the usual _kun-yomi_ read in isolation is _“onna”_… but as an _on-yomi_, as used in a compounding form, it could be read “_JO_.” 花 - the _kun-yomi_ is “_hana_” So I know I’m probably stretching the rules of Japanese phonotactics here, because all the examples I could find of 花 as the second element in a compound change the pronunciation, as in _ikebana_. (When it’s the first element in a compound, it keeps the basic pronunciation, as in _hanabi_ ‘fireworks’, literally ‘flower-fire’.) If the two characters are taken in isolation, and if the first one could somehow get the _on-yomi_, then perhaps 女花 could be read as “jo hana” - but I don’t know if that’s too much of a stretch. Foreign names like mine are supposed to be written in katakana, but why would anyone want a katakana tattoo? ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/13 "2007-07-21T02:32:43Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] If the two characters are taken in isolation, and if the first one could somehow get the _on-yomi_, then perhaps 女花 could be read as “jo hana” - but I don’t know if that’s too much of a stretch. [/QUOTE] Well, there are the so-called _jubako_ compounds which consist of mixed _on_ and _kun_ readings. Not all that common, though. And even in that case I think that _jobana_ would be the more natural compound. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/14 "2007-07-21T02:50:08Z")
[QUOTE=Blized] Kanji just seemed to be the best it is small and can easily fit on the under side of my wrist. I have been thinking of other symbols for happiness but I can not find much [/QUOTE] 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/15 "2007-07-21T03:01:32Z")
OK, now that all the Japanese speakers and writers are in the thread, how do you write “You gonna eat that?” in Japanese. See, cause I want to get a nice koi tattoo, and koi grow to fill their environment, and I’m fat. So it’s funny. See how funny it is? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/16 "2007-07-21T03:19:07Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Are you frakkin’ kidding me? Are you frakkin’ kidding? How could you even think about getting a permanent mark on your body in a language/culture you don’t understand? What are you trying to say to others that the language you and they actually do understand can’t convey? Good fucking christ. Pfft, god I’m gonna FUCKING PIT you. USE YOUR BRAIN. Jeebus fucking christ talk about masturbation. Ooooo look at the pretty letters… . [/QUOTE] [Moderator Warning] **Operation Ripper** , you’ve been around long enough to know that this kind of response is completely inappropriate for GQ. If you can’t restrain yourself better than that, you should refrain from posting anything at all. Do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/17 "2007-07-21T03:38:13Z")
[QUOTE=cckerberos] Well, there are the so-called _jubako_ compounds which consist of mixed _on_ and _kun_ readings. Not all that common, though. And even in that case I think that _jobana_ would be the more natural compound. [/QUOTE] There used to be a town in Toyama called Jōhana, written 城端 (castle’s edge). It’s somewhat famous for its traditional crafts. How about 嬢花 or 嬢華 – also _jō-hana_ – which reads daughter/miss - flower. There’s less confusion, as the first character can only be read _jō_. As for the op, I’d like to suggest: ハ ピ ネ ス I know, I know, it’s not kanji… ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/18 "2007-07-21T03:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=Dante] OK, now that all the Japanese speakers and writers are in the thread, how do you write “You gonna eat that?” in Japanese. [/QUOTE] これ、食べんの？ ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/19 "2007-07-21T04:55:18Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] [Moderator Warning] **Operation Ripper** , you’ve been around long enough to know that this kind of response is completely inappropriate for GQ. If you can’t restrain yourself better than that, you should refrain from posting anything at all. Do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but I’m still right, no? ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570/20 "2007-07-21T08:17:32Z")
Or in my area: I’m assuming whatever it is is closer to the listener than the speaker, so I’m going with _sore_ as the indicator. それをたべるの。(_sore o taberu no_) The “no” is a casual question marker, so ? is optional here. “O” is more properly written “wo” but the w sound is basically gone in speech, though still nominally there in writing. For easier reading, I left it out. それをたべるなの？ (_sore o taberu na no?_) More like “Are you actually going to eat that” and has a feminine feeling. それ、食う？ (_sore kuu?_) If you want to sound like a guy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kanji/412570.md?page=2)