Hi All,
In the interest of being culturally sensitive, through the use of the language and design, I have some questions about the use of 死 in a tattoo design.
Essentially, I’m looking to have 死 with cherry blossom branches intertwined. Through some research, I’m not entirely convinced that my usage of the kanji to be correct. Is anyone able to elaborate on the definition and usage as I’m still yet to figure out whether it to be a noun or verb as such. Being a non speaker, I’m obviously not clued up, and don’t want to create an issue culturally.
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Go easy on me, I’ll scrap the idea if need be!
5 comments
死 means death, to die
Literally a corpse (歹) + a person (人 abbreviated to 匕)
Cherry Blossoms are typically associated with the fleetingness of things in life, as well as birth & death.
What were you hoping your tattoo would represent?
I think you might get some weird looks from people who know the meaning of the character
If you want to be culturally sensitive, then no. Don’t get that tattoo. It’s tacky at best. The kanji for death in Japanese doesn’t carry any kind of romantic or poetic connotation in any way without context. This kanji alone is a very gloomy and dreadful expression without having any meaning of anything.
Don’t
Really
I don’t think people will take particular offense at this if that’s your worry.