Engraving for Engagement ring

Hi, I'm going to propose to my girlfriend during our trip to Japan later this year. I have the chance to make an engraving and I'd love to do it in Japanese, since Japan is somehow part of us and will be since we are engaging there. So here's what I'd like to put in the ring:

You and I: Soulmates

Please help me translate that to kanji in the best possible way!! (retaining the meaning of the phrase as much as possible).

Thank you so much!

Not to pick at your idea, but will the person doing the engraving be able to do it in Kanji?

Yes, already asked, they surcharge a bit for doing it but they told me they can do it.

永遠の愛
永遠の絆
絆
運命の絆
運命の人
運命の友
運命の相手
運命の伴侶

永遠 eternal
愛 love
絆 connection, bond, tie
運命　destiny, fate
人 person
友 friend, mate
相手 you, companion
伴侶 partner

Excellent! Good luck with your proposal

ken, thanks so much with all the suggestions. I sincerely don't know which one to choose!

Is there a kanji for soul?

Sorry for all the posts:

魂 I found this to mean Soul

Would this be correct and close to what I want to say?

運命魂の伴侶

or

運命魂の相手

No, 運命魂 is not a correct word. If you had bothered to make a Google search, the fact that it gives zero hits would have given you a hint.

The concept of "soulmate" is an imported concept, so that this word has been used often as such, meaning, in katakana (phonetic writing used to represent non-Japanese names and ideas) as against kanji or hiragana, and I doubt if there is true translation of it that can be written in kanji writing.

Most of the suggestions by ken, while they are often used for wedding rings and vows, are more of romantic tone compared to the word "soulmate." They are speaking of "eternal love," "eternal bond," "bond/commitment," "fateful bond," "THE person" (meaning the fateful one that is meant for you), "the fateful partner," etc. On the other hand, 友 (the one given by ken as "friend, mate") can be casual "friends" that I do not know if you would want it on your engagement rings.

The one you found for "soul" 魂 is more spiritual, like when you are talking about "body and soul" (as the being separated from the physical being, the one that goes to heaven.. or somewhere else after this life) and the connotation is a bit different from the one in English - in English I take it to mean something at your heart, at your core, your true self.

I strongly recommend getting the engraving in the language you feel comfortable with. If you must have it in Japanese, I suggest you seek professional (more literary) help from a translator.

You might consider

友＆愛

It means "friendship and love" but the Japanese pronounciation sounds exactly like "You and I" in English.

If your fiancee is a native Japanese speaker, I probably *wouldn't* use this because it is pretty corny (it was the name of a record rental chain in the 1980s, for one thing, but you and I (or "友＆愛" Ha!) will keep that our little secret).

But if you fiancee is not a native speaker and if you like the happy coincidence of the meanings and the pronunciation, you might consider it.

I'm still undecided, but investigating further I found this, which I like:

魂の伴侶

Would this be correct and have the meaning I'm looking for?

Aerond,

I hope you've read my earlier comment.

Still if you must, that phrase 魂の伴侶 seems to be in used, if only as a translation from the concept of "soul mate," meaning it is an imported concept, not native in Japan. People might wonder why you do not simply get it engraved in the original English :)

It appears as the title of the book by Brian L. Weiss translated into Japanese.

Yes AK, and thanks a lot for your comments, they're being really helpful :)

A friend who speaks japanese also popped up with this kanji: 心魂

so what you think about 心魂の伴侶

As long as it doesn't sound very awkward I would be happy, it doesn't need to super correct or exactly the way a Japanese would do it.

Aerond,

心魂の伴侶 looks too... forceful and awkward. 心魂, while the individual kanji means "heart" "soul," is not a word, that's the problem. Then I would prefer the going phrase of 魂の伴侶, as that phrase seems to be recognized as translation from "soul mate" :)

Thanks a lot AK, that one will be the one I'm going for. Thanks a lot everyone for all your help, really made my day :)