Transliteration Request

I have an elderly, veteran, martial arts enthusiast friend who's asked if a I can ask somebody on this forum to transliterate an English phrase into kanji/kana. The phrase is

'If you want peace, prepare for war.'

Can anybody help?

I'm not very confident in my Japanese. I asked ChatGPT.

The original:
"Si vis pacem, para bellum."

Standard translation:
平和を望むなら、戦いに備えよ。
Heiwa o nozomu nara, tatakai ni sonaeyo.

Closer to the Latin:
平和を望むなら、戦争に備えよ。
Heiwa o nozomu nara, sensō ni sonaeyo.

Classical, proverb-like style:
平和を欲せば、戦いに備えよ。
Heiwa o hosseba, tatakai ni sonaeyo.

I hope it's not for a tattoo.

I assume @Majestic or @Toritoribe could be of more assistance. Toritoribe hasn't been here in over a year, though.

I like all of them.
Maybe the first one is the simplest, and least affected, and therefore the most effective.

This phrase is well known, and attracts a lot of interest from Japanese netizens, so it pops up in a lot of Japanese searches.

The last one I also like, but I'm just a classical Japanese enthusiast and not an expert, so I don't know if its accurate (or if it could be tweaked to be made better). I have a nagging suspicion its close but not quite "classical". I just looked online and saw this one
平和を欲さば、戦への備えをせよ (Heiwa wo hossaba, ikusa he no sonae wo seyo) which scratches the itch a bit better.


Also including @NANGI for his input.

Mina-san Konnichiwa！

All the translations are good! Although the words differ slightly, they all mean the same thing.


If you want to translate using archaic(Samurai) language, the following terms would be appropriate.

太平を望まば、戦へ備えよ : Taihei wo Nozomaba, Ikusa he Sonaeyo

The word "heiwa : 平和" was coined during the Meiji era; prior to that, the term "taihei : 太平" was used.

The term "sensou : 戦争" first came into general use during the Meiji era; prior to that, the term "ikusa : 戦" was used.

However, while the word "ikusa" is still in use today, "taihei" is no longer commonly used, so "heiwa" conveys the meaning more clearly than "taihei."

I think "平和を欲さば、戦への備えをせよ" is better.

NANGI

Oh that's fantastic. I'll show him these and he can take his pick!

Thank you everyone!