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Kanji Tattoo Designs Part II - Understanding Kanji Symbols This part on understanding kanji tattoo designs is going to teach you about the second Japanese script mentioned in the previous article called Hiragana. It will also give you a bit more understanding about the Japanese Name Writing system.What is Hiragana? (hee-rah-gah-nah)? The word HIRAGANA means cursive rounded easy to use and indicates both the shape and relative simplicity of the script. The hiragana symbols were developed by simplifying the man'yogona kanji which represents the sounds of the Japanese language. Unlike Kanji script, there are only 46 Hiragana characters exist, and unlike English alphabet, Japanese Hiragana writingis 'a phonetic alphabet in other words they are sound characters.
Hiragana was necessary in order to adapt the Chinese writing system to the Japanese language. Hiragana symbols are used to write the grammatical parts of words and setences and Japanese words which don't have a kanji. The main use of Hiragana script then is to write words not normally written in kanji especially with a phrase because it is not always possible to write everything in Kanji Hiragana is used to write the phrase instead.
* Photo of Sam Woodbridge. Courtesy of DSFY Hiragana can also be used for naming Japanese children as well. The Japanese Name Translation is usually done by using the phonetic Translation which means that a suitable Japanese character is allocated by sound. With Kanji scripts, there are too many characters to apply for names, so, it is far more complex than simply writing names in either Katakana or Hiragana.To write names, Japanese use both kunyomi and Onyomi reading. Onyomi has developed from the original Chinese pronunciation but over the centuries it has been adapted to and become part of the Japanese language. Kunyomi on the other hand is a native Japanese word. English names are usually translated with Onyomi reading, and if the sound of onyomi reading of a kanji character is the same as the sound of your name, its kanji character is allocated. Do you need a Japanese kanji tattoo translated accurately?
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