# Translation Help？？ **URL:** \ **Category:** Japanese Language\ **Created:** [August 21, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495 "2019-08-21T02:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GinAA2020](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/ginaa2020/32/304505_2.png) [@GinAA2020](https://community.wanikani.com/u/GinAA2020)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/1 "2019-08-21T02:26:34Z")
So I train in Karate and some of us at the dojo have been trying to figure out what exactly is written on our style patch. With my limited education in Japanese, I have been able to figure out the kanji but the squiggly line at the top of the tree has us all stumped. It’s supposed to represent Unity and my 先生 says it’s rotated but I still can’t find anything close when looking under Unity in several places. Could this just be someone’s artistic interpretation of a kanji that may represent Unity? ありがとうございます ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/1/a/6/1a6e96da9ed38a73f946a6545673036922f7cc0b.png) ---
**Author:** ![acm2010](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/acm2010/32/43822_2.png) [@acm2010](https://community.wanikani.com/u/acm2010)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/2 "2019-08-21T03:20:24Z")
Did you see a three year old with a piece of chalk by chance? ---
**Author:** ![YukiPhoenix](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/yukiphoenix/32/458505_2.png) [@YukiPhoenix](https://community.wanikani.com/u/YukiPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/3 "2019-08-21T03:26:21Z")
> [@GinAA2020](#): > > It’s supposed to represent Unity and my 先生 says it’s rotated but I still can’t find anything close when looking under Unity in several places. Is this teacher actually Japanese or fluent in Japanese? This reeks of the gaijin who gets a kanji tattoo that is either pure gibberish or means nothing close to what they are told it means. ---
**Author:** ![Kazzeon](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/kazzeon/32/288210_2.png) [@Kazzeon](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Kazzeon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/4 "2019-08-21T03:27:57Z")
If your 先生 knows Japanese, he would probably know what it is. If he doesn’t, and just heard someone say it represented unity, sometimes they just have the wrong word. The house of my friend’s grandma has a bunch of framed kanji that don’t exactly mean what they have written below them. ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/5 "2019-08-21T04:13:44Z")
I mean, it’s possible someone copied something they saw from oracle bone script. But I wouldn’t call oracle bone script kanji. Or Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Naphthalene](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/naphthalene/32/219185_2.png) [@Naphthalene](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Naphthalene)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/6 "2019-08-21T04:17:50Z")
With a _lot_ of imagination, it looks like the 致 in 一致 if you rotate the image to the right. (And that word can mean unity) That’s all I can think of at the moment… ---
**Author:** ![tel003a](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@tel003a](https://community.wanikani.com/u/tel003a)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:38am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/7 "2019-08-21T04:38:50Z")
What are the black character-looking things on the left and right? Zoom out. ---
**Author:** ![acm2010](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/acm2010/32/43822_2.png) [@acm2010](https://community.wanikani.com/u/acm2010)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/8 "2019-08-21T06:15:03Z")
> [@Naphthalene](#): > > With a _lot_ of imagination, it looks like the 致 in 一致 if you rotate the image to the right. I see 🥖 🐍 rotated to the right. ---
**Author:** ![GinAA2020](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/ginaa2020/32/304505_2.png) [@GinAA2020](https://community.wanikani.com/u/GinAA2020)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 12:36pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/9 "2019-08-21T12:36:06Z")
> [@athomasm](#): > > Is this teacher actually Japanese or fluent in Japanese? This reeks of the gaijin who gets a kanji tattoo that is either pure gibberish or means nothing close to what they are told it means. The style patch was originally designed by our style creator who was American but did train in Okinawa for several years. It’s been a good 60 years since then so the meaning behind the symbol may have been passed down incorrectly through time. > [@Kazzeon](#): > > The house of my friend’s grandma has a bunch of framed kanji that don’t exactly mean what they have written below them. I have seen this a lot at other dojos to be honest. It’s probably left up to the interpretation of the creator at the time they were made. > [@Leebo](#): > > I mean, it’s possible someone copied something they saw from oracle bone script. But I wouldn’t call oracle bone script kanji. Or Japanese. Interesting… we were thinking along the same lines that is was a symbol they saw somewhere and decided they wanted to use it. > [@Naphthalene](#): > > With a _lot_ of imagination, it looks like the 致 in 一致 if you rotate the image to the right. (And that word can mean unity) > That’s all I can think of at the moment… Ah… will look into that… Thanks! > [@tel003a](#): > > What are the black character-looking things on the left and right? Zoom out. We understand the rest, it was just the thing at the top that was confusing. The center image is a fist which was supposed to represent the style at the bottom: Shorei-joju-ryu but we know that doesn’t translate well. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/3/d/5/3d551f1a60c330f43ce7969095af9d5704c3232e.jpeg) Thank you all for your insight… ---
**Author:** ![Thud](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/thud/32/2539_2.png) [@Thud](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Thud)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/10 "2019-08-21T13:30:21Z")
I don’t think your teacher is lying per se, Okinawan is a different language than Japanese. And the Goju-ryu style does come from Okinawa. ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/11 "2019-08-21T13:40:18Z")
> [@Thud](#): > > Okinawan is a different language than Japanese. Well, not if you ask Japanese people. But either way… I don’t see how the squiggles would tie in. ---
**Author:** ![Belthazar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/belthazar/32/4469_2.png) [@Belthazar](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Belthazar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/12 "2019-08-21T21:21:06Z")
There’s only one squiggle - the other one is a fist. It’s almost familiar, though. It does kinda make me think of Egyptian heiroglyphics more than it does kanji, mind. ---
**Author:** ![QuackingShoe](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/quackingshoe/32/210166_2.png) [@QuackingShoe](https://community.wanikani.com/u/QuackingShoe)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/13 "2019-08-21T21:45:14Z")
> [@Leebo](#): > > Well, not if you ask Japanese people. A language is a dialect with an army and a navy, right? ---
**Author:** ![Naphthalene](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/naphthalene/32/219185_2.png) [@Naphthalene](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Naphthalene)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:25pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/14 "2019-08-22T12:25:16Z")
And a flag. ---
**Author:** ![GinAA2020](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/ginaa2020/32/304505_2.png) [@GinAA2020](https://community.wanikani.com/u/GinAA2020)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/15 "2019-08-22T12:26:15Z")
> [@Naphthalene](#): > > And a flag. Flags are cool. ---
**Author:** ![Kazzeon](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/kazzeon/32/288210_2.png) [@Kazzeon](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Kazzeon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:31pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/16 "2019-08-22T12:31:32Z")
![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/a/f/6/af6e962f61006ef53e6ec91e00063371d81efd2a.png) ---
**Author:** ![bnheise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/bnheise/32/185136_2.png) [@bnheise](https://community.wanikani.com/u/bnheise)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/17 "2019-08-22T12:54:24Z")
It’s probably some buddhist something or other written in sanskrit. ---
**Author:** ![Belthazar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/belthazar/32/4469_2.png) [@Belthazar](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Belthazar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/18 "2019-08-22T13:27:37Z")
Ohh, I think you might be on to something there. Could be इ. Or ड. [Sanskrit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit#Phonology). Those are just individual letters, though. Not sure what meaning they might imply. ---
**Author:** ![GinAA2020](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/ginaa2020/32/304505_2.png) [@GinAA2020](https://community.wanikani.com/u/GinAA2020)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/19 "2019-08-22T13:32:11Z")
> [@Belthazar](#): > > Ohh, I think you might be on to something there. Could be इ. Or ड. > > [Sanskrit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit#Phonology). > > Those are just individual letters, though. Not sure what meaning they might imply. That’s the closest I have seen! thank you!!! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/translation-help%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F/38495/20 "2020-08-21T13:39:55Z")
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