Tattoo confirmation Japanese > English

Hi all,

I’d really like to get this line from a song tattooed on me “結局は大丈夫” - I just want to confirm that it makes sense and means something as close to “in the end, everything’s just fine” or “in the end, it’ll be okay”?

I’m obsessed with the song Dancehall (ダンスホール) by Mrs. Green Apple and message of it, just want to make sure i have the right idea!

Thanks all :)

Yes, that is exactly what it means.

By the way, I couldn't help but to laugh out loud the instant I saw your tattoo phrase. I hope it's the right kind of response you have in mind.

thank you Uco! I didn’t know that it was a funny phrase? 😂 in my mind the translation means like “it’ll all be okay in the end” in a mental health way rather than anything funny - if you could enlighten me? Just don’t want to get anything with the wrong meaning 😅

Like Uco I couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of a 結局大丈夫 tattoo, and you might get similar reactions from a lot of people who speak/read Japanese, largely because of how contextual the language is.

結局は大丈夫 literally translates to either "in the end OK" or "eventually OK." As you can see, there's no actual verb in the phrase, and even if there were, the Japanese language doesn't differentiate between present-tense and future-tense verbs (the listener/reader has to understand which is being said through context).

I haven't listened to Dancehall, but off the top of my head, if someone if singing a song about the trials and tribulations of life, the ups and downs of following their dreams and trying to stay true to themselves, and sings 結局大丈夫, then yeah, it'd sound like "In the end, it'll all be OK." But without that context, 結局大丈夫, all by itself, can also be taken to mean "Eh, good enough." Like if I was making toast and kind of burned the bread, but it was still edible, I might think, まぁ、結局大丈夫.

In general, people in Japan don't visually broadcast their life philosophies in the form of T-shirts and tattoos, so Japanese people might look at such a tattoo less as a declaration of one's beliefs, but more of a label of what it's physically attached to. So seeing someone with a 結局大丈夫 tattoo might have them thinking the person has labeled themselves, or that part of their body, as "Not so good, but not so bad either." Imagining someone with a 結局大丈夫 tattoo on their arm or chest, the first thing that springs to mind is someone with sort of a flabby build saying "Well, I tried getting in shape but it was hard, and I've just accepted being pudgy since it's not to the degree of being a health problem."

It's also worth keeping in mind that 結局大丈夫 is a very common phrase in Japanese, and has been so since long before Dancehall was released, so few, if any, Japanese people are likely to see the tattoo and react with "Oh, like the Mrs. Green Apple Song!" The phrase comes up often enough in daily life that, among Japanese people, it doesn't instantly bring up memories of the song.

The connection between 結局大丈夫 and Dancehall might be stronger among non-native Japanese-speakers who learned the phrase through the song, so they might get a kick out of it. However, if you're getting the tattoo written in Japanese text, people who are just starting to study/understand Japanese probably won't be able to read it, and those who are far enough along in their studies to be able to read it will have also heard/seen 結局大丈夫 in so many other situations that the connection to Dancehall will probably have been eroded in their mind.

One more thing to consider is that as popular as Dancehall is now, the song has only been out for about a year, and if it largely fades from the public consciousness before long, it wouldn't be the first time for a briefly very popular Japanese pop song to not make a long-lasting impression, in which case the intended significance of your tattoo would be even more lost on Japanese people.

The end result is that it would probably be a tattoo that you'd have to explain to just about anyone (native Japanese-speakers, experienced non-native Japanese speakers, and non-Japanese speakers), and even once you're done explaining, a lot of them probably wouldn't react with "Ah, yeah, I get it now! Cool!"

Long story short: Even tough 結局は大丈夫 does mean “in the end, everything’s just fine” or “in the end, it’ll be okay” within the context of the song, without context Japanese people are unlikely to interpret it as a hopeful, reassuring message and more as an explanation/excuse of "Didn't do very well, but it's passable."

Ultimately, it's your body and your tattoo, so you're of course free to do whatever you want. If other people's reactions to your tattoo matter to you, though, be aware that Japanese people are more likely to react to 結局大丈夫 with a chuckle or confused looks on their faces than a thumbs up or earnest nod of agreement.

The significance of "結局は大丈夫" is that it is a direct quote from the lyrics that OP likes, even though not everybody is familiar with that song. If you just want the similar meaning, you might as well ink a more famous quote from Shakespear.

OP, I say this as someone who is both proficient in Japanese and heavily tattooed, Japanese is kind of a vibes language and even if you get the exact perfect meaning right the vibes and nuance just don't often translate in a way that makes a good tattoo. While a lot of people don't like them, there is a reason why single character tattoos (or even yoji/four character compounds) are more commonly done - they tend to be simultaneously non-specific enough that you can avoid people wondering why you would get a strange word or phrase tattooed on you, and hyper specific because the kanji have clear meanings and so you can choose one that you relate to.

I think that all languages have phrases which are kind of "tattoo ready", and ones which just end up looking odd to the majority of people who speak the language. I appreciate that it's from a song you like and that is 100% valid so if you decide you don't care what other people think then I hope you go get the tattoo and are happy with it, but from a pure language perspective this one falls firmly into the latter category.

Additionally this is just my personal opinion but unless you go to a tattooer who specialises in calligraphy/brush stroke style CJK characters I think that 99% of tattoos that use hiragana are kind of ugly.

Hi e_mia,

It's just that we don't see tattoos like that here in Japan. To most Japanese people, it would appear as a typical "dumb tattoo on an innocent foreigner who doesn't understand our culture". And I can't imagine a nice font for it either.

If it's okay in your culture, than fine. It's not like you mistakenly have "urine" instead of "okay". And it's part of a lyric, so you can't change it. Seeing the video for the song, Mrs. Green Apple and its song seems like a nice little poppy thing for teens, so as long as your family doesn't mind you inking it for the rest of your life, why not. It'll be nice, dumb and cute.

By the way, I love seeing beautiful tattoos (my preference is the non-dumb ones), and although modern tattoos are becoming increasingly popular in Japan, it's not really popular to ink words and letters in Japanese language.

Last Sunday, I was watching a TV talk show when actor, Munetaka Aoki, whom I admire confessed that he almost got a tattoo in the past. But his policy was, "If a year passes and I still want the same design on the same part of my body, I'll ink it." Well, it turned out that he thought he came up with a great idea for a tattoo, and the next morning he regretted it, so he didn't get it inked. He revealed what the idea was. He wanted it on his arms, which is common, but it was a couple of words in kanji. He entertained us by gaining a big laugh just because they were words.

One thing to keep in mind when it comes to Japan is that regarding tattoos, they are NOT common at all. It's quite rare to see a Japanese person with a tattoo, so if you like a song lyric in Japanese and want to put it permanently on your body, that may seem strange to a lot of people as to why you want to put a song lyric on your body that only resonates with you.

Keep in mind, having tattoos in Japan is still a bit taboo and some places won't accept foreigners with them. Just food for thought when you're thinking about putting writing on your body. It's your life and you can do as you please, but just remember that just because you deem something as "cool" or "flashy" on your body, others may not respond the same way to it and might find it odd, especially if kanji can have multiple meanings.