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Question Translation question

Jthom83

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30 Sep 2019
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raku.jpg


Can anyone tell me what this means? Thanks!
 
Yes it is 樂 and 楽.

For those who are interested in the origin of this kanji, it is a side view of people playing a Daiko, or large Taiko drum:



These types of drums were often played at festivals and came to be symbols of happiness.

In Chinese (the simplified form is 乐) it means happiness.


In Japanese it is used to mean relaxation.


There is a neighborhood in Tokyo called 有楽町 or Yurakucho, which means "place to have fun" or "entertainment district". (This is similar to the use of the name 永乐路 or Yongle Road (road of eternal happiness) for a road in China.)
 
Last edited:
I should have made it clear that 乐 is the simplified form (Chinese) for 楽 (Japanese) and 樂 (Chinese).
 
Very cool. Thank you! I found hat that this symbol on it was wondering where it might of come from.
 
Most kanji etymology stories are nonsense.

If you look at the oldest character forms currently available to us today, you might be able to make a decent educated guess as to the origin, but to state a character etymology as if it is an incontrovertible fact is irresponsible.

(Obviously, the above does not apply to the small percentage of characters which were created in comparatively modern times and have documented origins.)
 
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