Lost in Translation
Here’s what those cool-looking Japanese tattoos really say

By Junko Hamaguchi

	Photo By Junko Hamaguchi This T-shirt from J-List.com says, ’Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend.’

It looks like a cool Japanese phrase, doesn’t it? Actually, it says, “I’m a pervert,” and it’s printed on T-shirts made here in America and worn by people who are unaware of what it means.

Americans love Japanese characters. In the five years I’ve been in this country, I have seen Japanese writing on jackets, T-shirts, hats, billboards and backpacks. Madonna even used Japanese characters on the cover of her latest album, “Greatest Hits Volume 2.”

More often than not, the words and phrases are nonsensical. For example, the characters on Madonna’s album cover, “” (mojijiramimiji) aren’t even words. If you tried to pronounce them, they would sound like earthworm (mimizu) and lice (shirami).

Worst of all, many of the tattoos with Japanese and Chinese characters are equally nonsensical and harder to take off or put away (see photos of Columbia College students’ tattoos, at right).

If you’re considering getting a tattoo with Japanese or Chinese characters, do some research first. Ask your Asian friends to help you select and verify the characters, or visit the Web site http://japanese.about.com. Also make sure that the tattoo artist is knowledgeable about Japanese or Chinese characters.

In Japan, where tattoos are becoming popular among young people, we prefer pictures, not letters or characters. On the other hand, we Japanese love to misuse English words. Japanese bands have names like Pornographity, Bump of Chicken, Mr. Children, Funk the Peanuts, Puffy and Spitz. Clearly, the translation trouble lies on both sides of the ocean. 

What do they really say?   Photo By Junko Hamaguchi   At the tattoo parlor, Marcus Gonzales found a list of Chinese characters and picked "strength" and "courage." His Tai-chi teacher finally confessed that they really say "dog" and "puppy."

Photo By Junko Hamaguchi   Mary Haberski’s cousin’s wife is Japanese, and she told Mary her tattoo means "chaos," but it really means "to gather many things."

Photo By Junko Hamaguchi   Tim Bass used a Japanese dictionary to choose these characters to represent his first name. That’s a bad idea if you don’t know Japanese. Bass was too scared to ask what his tattoo really meant until I interviewed him. It looks like it says "unreliable delivery service."

Photo By Junko Hamaguchi   Angelique Starr asked for a tattoo that says "circle seven." But if you read it from bottom to top, it says "seven yen," which is about five cents.

Photo By Junko Hamaguchi   Together, these tattoos say "love hurts," which is what Matt Borek wanted. "Everyone is looking for love, but everyone gets pain," he says. That’s poetic, but the second word also can be read as "ouch." When I first saw his tattoos, I thought they expressed how much he loves his tattoos but that getting them hurt like hell.