Does anyone know how to read Japanese? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

alabbasi · #1 06-12-2013, 10:01 PM

If so, can you help me translate this?

KarTek · #2 06-12-2013, 10:22 PM

I think it's upside down. You can find a Kanji/Katakana letter guide and then type the phonetic translation into Google and see what happens. Also, a member here, "Suganimi" can speak Japanese, he lived there for a while I think.

Is that an Omamori? A temple charm? If so, you're not supposed to open it and pull the paper out!

alabbasi · #3 06-12-2013, 10:41 PM

Hi, it could well be. It's a flag and it's framed as such.

suginami · #4 06-13-2013, 12:33 AM

I had to ask my wife. It's above my skill level.

Shimabara-shi (shimabara city) yasunaka akahide aritayou.

Yasunaka is a part of shimabara city in Nagasaki.

She has no idea what akahide aritayou means.

She has no clue what that piece of cloth is for.

alabbasi · #5 06-13-2013, 01:01 AM

Thanks, the piece of cloth is the flag of the rising sun. It belongs to a friend of mine and was given to him
by his father who was a marine during WWII and fought in the battle of Iwojima.

He showed me today and told me that he framed it 50 years ago when he was 9 years old. Sadly he's considering
selling it and he wanted to find out what the writing meant, so I took a picture for him and posted here in an attempt to find out.

He has some other seriously cool stuff, such as a Japanese artillery sight that for some reason has east and west reversed.

suginami · #6 06-13-2013, 10:23 AM

Okay, with that in mind, Aritayou means "for Arita". Arita is probably someone's last name.

"you" pronounced like the yo in yo-yo.

My wife is now thinking it is his address, more or less, on the flag.

The Yasunaka and Akahide parts are likely his address.

Shimabara city
yasunaka and akahide are likely street or district names.

alabbasi · #7 06-13-2013, 03:22 PM

Following up on this, I also sent it to a Japanese friend of mine who passed it father.
His father said the following:

The picture is upside down. Regardless, the first 3 kanji characters refer to "the City of Shimabara". The next four kanji characters refer to a person's name, "Akahide Yasunaka." Actually the family name "Yasunaka" is the first 2 of the 4, and the last 2, given name, "Akahide". The final 3 kanji characters refer to "for whom this flag is used by" and it refers to "For Arima Family Use". You might wish to Google, "Shimabara, Japan". This city is full of history, and particularly known for the "Shimabara Revolt" by Christians who were all killed at the directive of the Shogunate around 1617. Also, "Arita" could be referring to the town of Arita (and the ruling family name could be the Arita Clan or Arita Family) which is well known for its world-famous Arita Yaki Porcelain not too far from Shimabara.

Pretty interesting stuff.

TX76513 · #8 06-13-2013, 04:27 PM

Heck, you can get anything solved on this forum

KarTek · #9 06-13-2013, 04:35 PM

That's very cool, thanks for sharing!

suginami · #10 06-13-2013, 05:50 PM

I asked my wife repeatedly if Yasunaka akahide was a person's name, and she said no.

I'll ask her if she agrees with your friend's father's translation.

alabbasi · #11 06-13-2013, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suginami

I asked my wife repeatedly if Yasunaka akahide was a person's name, and she said no.

I'll ask her if she agrees with your friend's father's translation.

Thank you and thank your wife. This is all very helpful. I have no idea how old this flag is, we can't assume that it was new during the war and dialects change over time. Because of this, I suspect that it's difficult to read.

suginami · #12 06-13-2013, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alabbasi

Following up on this, I also sent it to a Japanese friend of mine who passed it father.
His father said the following:

The picture is upside down. Regardless, the first 3 kanji characters refer to "the City of Shimabara". The next four kanji characters refer to a person's name, "Akahide Yasunaka." Actually the family name "Yasunaka" is the first 2 of the 4, and the last 2, given name, "Akahide". The final 3 kanji characters refer to "for whom this flag is used by" and it refers to "For Arima Family Use". You might wish to Google, "Shimabara, Japan". This city is full of history, and particularly known for the "Shimabara Revolt" by Christians who were all killed at the directive of the Shogunate around 1617. Also, "Arita" could be referring to the town of Arita (and the ruling family name could be the Arita Clan or Arita Family) which is well known for its world-famous Arita Yaki Porcelain not too far from Shimabara.

Pretty interesting stuff.

After reading this back to my wife, she still believes that Yasunaka is a place name. It is not a last name. If you google it, you can find it.

Google the name "Shimabara-shi Yasunaka", and you will see it will come up.

"Arita you" is for the use of the Arita family.

Akahide is a last name. It is a very, very unusual last name. She's never heard of it used as a last name, but if you google it, you can find Japanese people with that last name, so there you go.

Botnst · #13 06-14-2013, 07:36 AM

It would be a gesture of great kindness to the family if you could return it.

A friend who was in the Korean war killed a young NK officer in a bayonet fight at night. The next morning he sat all day near the body, holding his position as ordered. This old man told me he wonders if the officer's family was informed of his death. It makes the old guy tear-up.

Honor the soldier.