Hey.
Whats your interpretation ?

What I want couldn't fit in that small area (2 or 3 kanjis) but most people still understand its meaning, even japanese. (It was actually made by a cantonese designer. He said it is in "old chinese").

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a...5176_n.jpg

Anyways, HI! I just started japanese...

Well, it basically says "now" where a watch should be, so I guess you mean "The time is now."

You should have gotten 一期一会 instead　：P

Yep, looks like a tattoo of a psychedelic watch that says 今 ('now') in a calligraphic style.

By the by... it's generally understood that tattoos are taboo in Japan. While it's true that Japan has a rich history of exquisitely beautiful tattoo art, that art is also - at least in recent decades - closely associated with organized crime. The stereotype is that only Yakuza have tattoos, and many Japanese actually believe it. This creates a certain prejudice against tattoos which many learners of Japanese share.

While it's true that the stereotype is not -entirely- true and that the tattoo culture is changing... it's still very brazen to introduce yourself proudly with your tattoo in any environment with any relationship to Japanese.

While I don't mind, you are going to meet with hostile reactions sooner or later. If you go to Japan, be prepared to hide your tattoo.

Tattoos are becoming more common, but they are generally ones that can be easily hidden.

A large, highly visible wrist tattoo makes you unemployable except as something like a bartender or construction worker. It's like getting a tattoo on your forehead in the west.

Socially, young people will probably think it's cool unless you have facial tattoos or look like a Yak. Professionally and as a customer of services (hotels, onsen, landlords etc) is a whole different story though.

I suppose you could wear oversize sweaters which go past your hands though

Well he could always hide it by investing in a large wrist watch

I didn't immediately recognise it as 今. Is it some archaic version or something?

Maybe they were going for 令? Looks a bit more like that to me. Either way, pretty strange choice for a word to be proclaiming the world.

Well, I'm not an expert in cursive writing, but it looks to me like the 'umbrella' shape at the top of 今, and then the brush is clearly picked up and placed down again. After that, the remainder of the character is drawn without fully detaching the brush from the paper. The apparently horizontal stroke in computer graphics is drawn diagonally of course, and then there's a thin line that isn't there in 'proper' pencil kanji or computer graphics because the brush isn't lifted in cursive before the final '>' shape (or clock-hands if you will) is drawn.

(Hmmm, the 'clock-hands' is a bit 了 like I suppose, but I don't see anything like the extra strokes in 令 or 命 , and I've seen both of those in cursive form before which is nothing like this example.
By which, I should add, although it's hard to describe, but the last stroke of 令 should be clearly detached and trail from upper-left to lower-right. Well, in hand writing I've seen... there are two or more schools of calligraphy in Japan and this is supposedly Chinese calligraphy... anyway, I don't see a stroke no. 5)

I'm going to Okinawa in two weeks. I will see the reactions.
I won't hide it on purpose. I will do it with a watch only If I won't be allowed in an onsen.

One of my japanese friends said "not so good you have a tattoo but maybe its no problem cause you are gaijin".

i've never said this before about a kanji tattoo, but, cool tattoo!!!

IceCream Wrote:i've never said this before about a kanji tattoo, but, cool tattoo!!!

Yep, there are some terrible, terrible kanji tattoos out there. This one's not so bad. Even if i can't figure out whether it's supposed to be 今 or 令.

Why'd you get it in such a conspicuous spot?

Just be careful they don't think you're a　ヤクザ　guy or something with tattoos lol

You won't be able to go to public baths or pools. I found this out the hard way over the summer, but I'm able to cover mine even in the nude with a small bandage.

If the character were really a correctly drawn 今, it would end in a 左払い, but the final stroke here is a vertical とめ.

SomeCallMeChris Wrote:(Hmmm, the 'clock-hands' is a bit 了 like I suppose, but I don't see anything like the extra strokes in 令 or 命 , and I've seen both of those in cursive form before which is nothing like this example.
By which, I should add, although it's hard to describe, but the last stroke of 令 should be clearly detached and trail from upper-left to lower-right.)

JimmySeal Wrote:If the character were really a correctly drawn 今, it would end in a 左払い, but the final stroke here is a vertical とめ.

Ahhh, I see, those pictures make it pretty clear. You're right, it's 令 and now I know a tiny bit more about brush styles.

Thank goodness for the Internet! Now people can avoid embarrassment by checking the accuracy of Chinese character tattoo designs with a gen-u-ine UN interpreter before they commit themselves to ink.

@Gaijinme: What inspired you to get the tattoo? What did you think it meant?

I quite like the idea of a clock that simply says 今. I could stare at it while I am meditating.

The time is not now. Time is an illusion just like all things.

...is what you should meditate on.

Is there any evidence that it's actually 今 and not 令 though? I have never seen 今 written like that with 5 strokes before. Is it actually a recognised old form?

nadiatims Wrote:Is there any evidence that it's actually 今 and not 令 though? I have never seen 今 written like that with 5 strokes before. Is it actually a recognised old form?

Yes it is. Here's an old version that looks identical:

http://www.dingjiatea.com/blog/post/108.html

Here's an entire page showing variants of 今.

http://www.nipic.com/show/3/85/69cc0fb4180edf11.html

Both 166_55 and 166_79 show joined up forms similar to this tattoo.

なるほど

To be honest I just google-image-searched for "今 書法". I've never seen that before either

But doesn't surprise me that it's valid; you can take serious liberties when writing traditional hanzi joined up (seriously, you should see my Taiwanese doctor's handwriting!)

At first I thought it was 今 because of the wristwatch association, but JimmySeal has convinced me otherwise.

(Now aphasiac has me wondering again...) I guess the best thing to do would be to do an informal survey of fluent readers of Chinese / Japanese

Taking this off topic; has anyone else seen Hanzi Smatter, a site "dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture." Some very interesting tattoos there; this boys jersey also featured.



I am still trying to work out if it is genuine or I am being pranked by a creative user of Photoshop. At least it is removable.

@Jarvick7
Yes, but if time really is an illusion, why did my last retreat seem so endless

I haven't done any meditation for a while but, inspired by some of the posters on this site, I am thinking of getting back into it again.

One year ago I decided I want a watch with NOW instead of the numbers.
In october I made a visit to Tattoo Temple in Hong Kong (btw, they have the only designer in the world who does big brush style kanji tattoos, Joey Pang* < the waitlist is like 18 months now. For my designer - Wang - you need to wait 1-2 months).


Wang said the area is too small for the watch parts and also who knows what kind of watches people will wear in 10-15 years. I liked his idea , old brush kanji.

I live in Macao now and most chinese people recognize the sign as "order" (as a general giving orders). Another said it means today. But the first japanese I asked said "now" and I'm happy about that.

I remember the designer showing 3 signs for my idea, but we had space only for one and we both choosed this.

Cheers

*Joey Pang







Jarvik7, one of my inspirations (E Tolle - Power of now):

"Imagine the Eath devoid of human life, inahbited only by plants and animals.
Would it still have a past and a future? Could we still speak of time in any meaningful way?
The question "What time is it?" or "What's the date today?" - if anybody were there to ask it - would be quite meaningless. The oak tree or the eagle would be bemused by such a question.
"What time?" they would ask, "Well, of course, it's now. The time is now. What else is there?"

Gaijinme Wrote:I live in Macao now and most chinese people recognize the sign as "order" (as a general giving orders). Another said it means today. But the first japanese I asked said "now" and I'm happy about that.

Yep, that's 令 and 今 respectively, the ones we were talking about above (i think, i don't speak chinese, but those are the meanings of the characters in japanese).

Gaijinme Wrote:Jarvik7, one of my inspirations (E Tolle - Power of now):

"Imagine the Eath devoid of human life, inahbited only by plants and animals.
Would it still have a past and a future? Could we still speak of time in any meaningful way?
The question "What time is it?" or "What's the date today?" - if anybody were there to ask it - would be quite meaningless. The oak tree or the eagle would be bemused by such a question.
"What time?" they would ask, "Well, of course, it's now. The time is now. What else is there?"

That is almost worse!

Ignorance of time -> The time is now
Surface awareness of time -> The time is 3:30
Understanding of the illusory nature of time -> There is no time

(Note: I am not actually a believer. I am more of a nihilist than Buddhist.)