Kanji tattoos

[slavezombie]

I'm writing in screenplay format and have scenes containing music, specifically heavy metal. I've been devoting time to listening to various bands and one of the bands I like, SLAYER, has me in a quandary. Did you know Tom Araya has a Kanji tattoo

Comments

[mimerki]

I am NOT an expert and it's difficult to tell from the picture, but it *may* be his surname in kanji: 荒矢

If it is, it's a version that translates as something like broken arrow (search for Araya and you'll find it).

[lilacsigil]

It looks like 荒矢 to me, too, though it's either blurred with time or is not quite correctly done.

[fencer_x]

Might just be over-calligraphied? One would hope that, as it's his last name, someone in his immediate family knew the correct way to write it. Alternatively, maybe the tattoo artist just goofed.

[scribefigaro]

I don't think it's calligraphy (even bad calligraphy) because it doesn't look handwritten; the strokes are just very thick. I think it's just 荒矢 in Japanese Comic Sans or some other wacky typeface.

I'd read it as "wild arrow" in the sense of "missing the target completely" but like anything you can interpret it in a Zen way.

[majolika]

[calenture]

Have you tried asking a Slayer fan forum or LJ comm?

[slavezombie]

Yes, I have. Unfortunately, the forum that I attempted to ask this question was unresponsive.

[slightlywee]

I don't know what it says, but because kanji has been bizarrely misused by a lot of shitty tattooists (and other people, but that's not the point right now), you actually want to know two things:

1) What it says
2) What he thinks it says.

They are probably not the same.

[ojuzu]

Thisy this this. ;)

[bashou]

Looks like his family name, written as 荒矢.* Wild arrow, or broken arrow, depending on which meaning you want for the first kanji. The second kanji is a bit blurry due to the aging of the tattoo, but a name dictionary gives the above as the most likely choice.

There may be some older kanji not in newer dictionaries that matches the second part of the tattoo.

*
荒 (艾) コウ, あら.い, あら-, あ.れる, あ.らす, -あ.らし, すさ.む, N: ら laid waste, rough, rude, wild
矢 (矢) シ, や dart, arrow

eta: I'm totally pulling for "rude arrow", all puns intended.