Writing Kanji In English Is Art
Sitting there staring at all those incomprehensible squiggles that make up kanji thinking “why can’t you be more like English?!” Well one Japanese artist, Tomomi Kunishige (國重 友美), decided that she was going to make kanji more like English. More precisely, make kanji English.
I want you to imagine how you would make complex kanji in English with its English meaning in tact. Can’t? Neither could I until I saw her amazingly creative characters. She takes kanji and makes them look like the English word that the kanji actually mean. She writes them in Japanese calligraphy style (which allow for a bit of an abstract nature).
Ready?
Smile (笑)
Dream (夢)
Sea(海)
Peace(和)
Flower (花)
Bird (鳥)
Wind (風)
Moon (月)
Now if she could just do it for the other 2000+ kanji, I think there might be a good replacement for RTK.
Which is your favorite?
I’m sold on smile (笑). Check out more at her website.
Founder of Jalup. iOS Software Engineer. Former attorney, translator, and interpreter. Still watching 月曜から夜ふかし weekly since 2013.
These are insanely remarkable. She’s incredibly talented.
She definitely is. I’m curious where she got the inspiration to start doing this.
If you thought this was interesting, you’d be remiss not to read this: http://www.zompist.com/yingzi/yingzi.htm
Interesting concept. I wonder if this would make English harder or easier.
As an artist and a Kanji Rider, this is a magnificent achievement. Absolutely stunning.
I expect you to write up a few!
I would try kanji myanmar.