For each item in the catalog (including names, words, phrases, poems) we
provide independent resources so you can verify our translations for yourself.
Often you can verify the translation for yourself with the simple click of a
mouse!
And while we have attempted to provide details for all the items, if something
is missing or if you have further questions about a translation, please just contact us
and we will be happy to either update the site with more information or
personally address your specific questions.
For Words
As a simple example the designs for
Flower (hana), as most
designs, begins with a summary line:
Flower in Japanese is
which is read
hana.
This includes the English, the Japanese and how the Japanese is read. Also
the image and the reading give links to an independent dictionary so you can
with one click confirm the translation. The dictionary used here is Jefferey's
Japanese <-> English dictionary based on Edict data maintained by Dr. Jim Breen of Monash University.
And for many designs we also provide links to Yahoo's Japanese dictionary (which
requires Japanese fonts). Typically we summarize the translation items you can
check for yourself on the page as:
Translation Check: To confirm the translation for yourself, click
on
Flower (hana) which links to the independent
Jeffrey's Japanese English Dictionary. Or if you have Japanese fonts see
Yahoo's dictionary entry
Flower (hana).
We also will provide links to Namiko Abe's list of common Japanese words. For
example, the word Family in Japanese is kazoku:
Translation Check: To confirm the translation for yourself, click
on
Family (kazoku) which links to the independent
Jeffrey's Japanese English Dictionary. Or if you have Japanese fonts see
Yahoo's dictionary entry
Family (kazoku). Further
Namiko Abe (from About.com) lists this as a popular kanji at
Family (Kazoku).
We also will break down the word into individual kanji when this adds to the
meaning. An excellent example is
Way of the
Warrior (bushidou):
Way of the Warrior in Japanese is
which is read
bushidou.
The Japanese word bushidou means "Way of the Warrior" which is the
Japanese Code of Chivalry. It is composed of the kanji
 (read
bu) meaning "martial, military, warrior, arms",
 (read
shi) meaning "samurai; gentleman" and
 (read
dou) meaning "the way; teachings".
For more information see the Wikipedia article
Bushido.
Sarah Peterson also has an excellent overview of Bushido at
JapaneseBushido.org.
In each we give links to the individual kanji as well as to the entire word.
Here we also provide a link to an appropriate Wikipedia article and a third-part
website. With this information you can easily confirm that our translation is
correct and you can learn more about the word.
For Names
The standard way that names are translated to Japanese is phonetically (by
how the name sounds - not how it is spelled) to katakana. For some
specific examples see:
When searching for "David" I find many options. Which is the right one to
choose?
The first thing we do when translating a name is to decide which
pronunciation of the name to translate. And we have developed a special
Pronunciation Guide that
once we settle on a pronunciation it applies rules to generate the proper
rendering in Japanese. This way it is absolutely certain that if the
pronunciation is proper then the rendering in Japanese is proper.
We then correlate our translation with other translations to confirm
everything is correct. We use several other sources include Movie Goo which is a
Japanese Movie database with film star names in English and Japanese (it
requires Japanese fonts). As an example the name
James (jE-mz) has
Translation Check: You can confirm the Japanese translation of
James using Jeffrey's J/E Dictionary at
James. People using this exact same translation are James Belushi (         ),
James Brolin (    ),
James Brown (  ),
Lennie James (  )
and Hawthorne James (  ).
The popular Japanese site Movie Goo also has a list of celebrities named
James translated to Japanese.
This allows you to easily check that the translation we use is common and
standard.
We also provide further details about the name including book references and
links to reliable internet sites. For example, using James again you will see:
NOTES: Learn more about the etymology of James at
Babynamer and
BehindTheName. James's meaning can also be confirmed on page 153 in
The Comprehensive Dictionary of English & Hebrew First Names by
Alfred J. Kolatch. James's meaning can also be confirmed on page 136 in
A Dictionary of First Names (Oxford Paperback Reference)
by Hanks, Hardcastle, and Hodges.
Our goal is to provide the detail and background so that you are completely
comfortable with our name translations. And, as always, should you have any
questions please let us know and contact us. We
truly want you to be as happy with the translation as you are with Master
Takase's beautiful art.
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