Need this translated

[Chaoslienex]

It's not exactly how it looks, but it's close enough considering I had to draw it using a laptop touchpad ?

 

[undrentide]

今古有神奉志士

It does not make much sense to Japanese people today. I'm not 100% sure but think this is the case.

Since this sentence is fairly condensed and abstract (think of a line of a poem), and is not a kind of sentences you'd often hear in daily life, it's natural that each person will interpret it slightly differently. I don't know what is there through Google but I personally would translate it as: "Gods have always been on the side of those with courage and ambition", or simply: "Gods have always been on the side of the warrior"

PS: After thinking further about it, I've come to believe that "今古有神奉志士" is neither Chinese or Japanese but is, like the sword itself, a Western imitation of Japanese, and is intended as Japanese. So my conclusion is that the sword and the scripts on it are both fake!

 

[Toritoribe]

The line is from the movie "The Last Samurai ", isn't it? What was trying to say would be something like 今古、神の志士を奉る有り[Konko, kami no shishi wo tatematsuru ari]; "Gods have been praising men of high purpose through all ages."

It does not make much sense to Japanese people today.

Agreed. It's a kind of fake Japanese/Chinese.

 

[Glenn]

The Last Samurai seems to be popular lately.

 

[Ben Bullock]

It's not exactly how it looks, but it's close enough considering I had to draw it using a laptop touchpad :?
ht tp://img10. imageshack. us/img10/5836/86173547.png

I have a recognizer which might help with those kanji:

Handwritten kanji search at sljfaq.org

You can draw them in and then get a link to WWWJDIC.

 

[Chaoslienex]

Thanks for the help.
undrentide, those are indeed the characters.

Though the link you gave was invalid.

The phrase was printed on the blade of a sword, was just wondering what it was.

 

[undrentide]

Thanks for the help.
undrentide, those are indeed the characters.

Though the link you gave was invalid.

The phrase was printed on the blade of a sword, was just wondering what it was.

The link is OK (I've double checked) so maybe it has something to do with your PC or connection. Anyway, I quote the post from another forum which is what the link refers to:

Since this sentence is fairly condensed and abstract (think of a line of a poem), and is not a kind of sentences you'd often hear in daily life, it's natural that each person will interpret it slightly differently. I don't know what is there through Google but I personally would translate it as: "Gods have always been on the side of those with courage and ambition", or simply: "Gods have always been on the side of the warrior"

PS: After thinking further about it, I've come to believe that "今古有神奉志士" is neither Chinese or Japanese but is, like the sword itself, a Western imitation of Japanese, and is intended as Japanese. So my conclusion is that the sword and the scripts on it are both fake!

 

[Toritoribe]

The phrase was printed on the blade of a sword, was just wondering what it was.

Something like this?

This is a supplement to the DVD The Last Samurai; chopsticks.

 

[Glenn]

Now that's just amazing. What was the budget of that movie? They couldn't have gotten something that's actually Japanese to put on there? Hollywood, you never cease to amaze me.

This reminds me of the use of 中 to mean "red dragon" in the movie of the same title. As far as I've seen it's never had that meaning.

 

[Mike Cash]

This reminds me of the use of 中 to mean "red dragon" in the movie of the same title. As far as I've seen it's never had that meaning.

You'll get a good belly laugh out of this; they must have taken it from Mahjong:

 

[Glenn]

Mahjong, eh? I know next to nothing about it. So I checked the Wikipedia page, and there is some connection, but probably nothing like what the makers of Red Dragon wanted (the word "dragon" being introduced by an American, and all):
Mahjong - Wikipedia

Dragon tiles: Red Dragon, Green Dragon, and White Dragon. The term dragon tile is a Western convention introduced by Joseph Park Babcock in his 1920 book introducing mahjong to America. Originally, these tiles are said to have something to do with the Chinese Imperial Examination. The red tile ("中"榜, zhōngbǎng) means passing the examination to clear the way to officialdom. The green tile ("發"財, fācái, literally "get rich") means wealth. The white tile (白板, báibǎn, literally "clean slate") means freedom from corruption. It usually has a blue border to distinguish from replacement tiles and prevent alterations. In the original Chinese mahjong, these pieces are called jiàn (箭), which represents archery, and the red "中" represents a hit on the target. In ancient Chinese archery, one would put a red "中" to signify that the target was hit. White "白" represents failure, and green "發" means that one will release the draw.[citation needed]