Is there a translation to the personification of “life” as in nature and evolution? (Not as in a person’s life / biological life) i’ve heard that there isnt a proper translation.
Again, this is because that style of personification is a *cultural* aspect. In Japanese mythology, there are gods who manage certain things. Izanami is the goddess of death, Amaterasu is pretty much literally the sun.
The actual forces themselves are not specifically personified directly; There is Izanami, who can be considered a psychopomp, but there is no ‘Death’.
On top of that, to my awareness, I don’t think there even is a Japanese god residing over life (maybe Izanagi?), though that’s not massively surprising, since that’s kind of a big thing to assign to a single God.
TL;DR: it’s a cultural thing, and given that this is for a tattoo of an explicitly English quote, it makes no sense to deprive it of its cultural background by getting it in Japanese.
3 comments
生命？
Either r/translator or daily thread, check the rules to determine which is more appropriate.
A personification? Not really.
But then I already stated as such in the [translator thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/translator/comments/10tekw5/english_to_japanese/) where you were asking after the Jurassic Park quote.
Again, this is because that style of personification is a *cultural* aspect. In Japanese mythology, there are gods who manage certain things. Izanami is the goddess of death, Amaterasu is pretty much literally the sun.
The actual forces themselves are not specifically personified directly; There is Izanami, who can be considered a psychopomp, but there is no ‘Death’.
On top of that, to my awareness, I don’t think there even is a Japanese god residing over life (maybe Izanagi?), though that’s not massively surprising, since that’s kind of a big thing to assign to a single God.
TL;DR: it’s a cultural thing, and given that this is for a tattoo of an explicitly English quote, it makes no sense to deprive it of its cultural background by getting it in Japanese.