Kanji Tattoo

Hey guys,
I want to do tattoo on my neck. I want to tattoo the word "Honor" in Japanese Kanji. I found in google that " Honor" in kanji would be "Mei Yo –¼—_". My question is, are these charachters in japanese kanji the right
writing form for doing tattoo ?(because you know, you cant trust google and i dont want to look dumb, after the tattoo, when it means something else).

A few things.

–¼—_ means �ghonor,�h that part is correct, but honor for what? �cwould be the question that comes up in a Japanese person�fs mind when one sees that.

Also the font/letter style would be a challenge – you�fd need to get a tattooist who KNOWS the Japanese language and the calligraphy to do that. (I have seen kanji tattoos written reversed, written sideways, and also done in textbook/newspaper type of font, which looks so�c square and uninteresting.) Think if you�fd want to have �gHONOR�h tattooed on yourself in English in block letters/Times New Roman font. I don�ft think that is cool.

I suggest getting any tattoo in a language you understand fully/feel familiar with. And if you don�ft want to have it done in English (your native tongue I assume), better not get it in a language you don�ft understand fully. Just my two cents.

Just find someone who knows the language and specialises in handwritten Japanese tattoos. Seriously. Sorry if this comes across as lecturing but as somebody who is a) heavily tattooed and b) more than a little familiar with the Japanese language and culture I feel comfortable guaranteeing you that this is the best advice you will receive on the matter.

Unfortunately unless you are talking about simple nouns like "bicycle" or "orange juice", translating Japanese to English is rarely as simple as taking one word and replacing it with another. That is doubly true when talking about vague concepts like "honour".

If you want a kanji tattoo that you can be proud of and love for the rest of your life, as opposed to something general/bad like the vast majority of Chinese or Japanese tattoos I see on westerners, you need to find a tattoo artist who speaks, reads, and writes Japanese at a native or near native level. Could be a Japanese national, a second generation immigrant who can use the language perfectly, or (unlikely but still possible) a non-Japanese artist who specialises in this kind of thing. Find one and work it out with them. You can tell them exactly the kind of meaning you want to convey, the reasons and thinking behind it, etc. Trust them 100%, and they will find the best design for you. A tattoo is for life and can either be something that becomes part of your identity that you cherish until you die, or something that you think is cool for a few months before realising that you should have thought harder about before having it made.

Therefore, it is worth it to travel far, even to another country, if you can't find the right artist locally. The right artist will make a tattoo that even some Japanese people who aren't into tattoos will have to admit is well thought out and executed. So find that person and pay whatever it takes to get something that you aren't going to hate in a few years. I have had bad tattoos made locally, and have also travelled many hundreds of miles to have genuinely great tattoos made, and I promise it is worth the extra time, effort, and expense to get something you love. I've also had tattoos lightened with a laser so they can be covered, and I can tell you as someone who has a pretty high threshold for pain that laser removal SUCKS, so get the right tattoo the first time so that that isn't an option you even need to think about later on down the road, especially if you are having the tattoo made somewhere as visible as your neck.

Good luck.

honor:
noun
1. high respect; great esteem.
2. adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct.

Meiyo (–¼—_) is #1 above. If you mean #2 then choose another word.

Yes, you will look dumb.
You cannot have anything accurately translated unless you provide enough context and background, which usually requires a lot of communication.
–¼—_ does not mean "to honor someone". The honor is on you.
I hope you get something beautiful tattooed on your neck.

Ok, I got it thank you for your replies.