Need some kanji translated

September 23, 2010 6:38 PM

TranslationFilter, I was wondering if anyone could translate three kanji characters. I've asked around, and haven't found anyone, so I decided to turn to you guys hoping that someone would be able to.

Here it is
Thanks.

posted by pcowden to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

From top to bottom:
福: luck, blessing

禄: happiness

I'm missing the third one.
posted by clearlydemon at 6:47 PM on September 23, 2010

kotobuki
壽: longevity

maybe?
posted by lundman at 6:56 PM on September 23, 2010

Luck
Happiness

The bottom one, I can't quite recognize.
posted by ralenys at 7:00 PM on September 23, 2010

The bottom one is the old version of 寿 meaning 'long life'.
posted by thesailor at 7:06 PM on September 23, 2010

Agree with all above. Very common in traditional Chinese decoration. Actually they relate to 3 "gods." If you are interested you can search up 福禄寿 in, say, google images. I don't know about the usage of these words in Japanese culture though.
posted by bread-eater at 8:03 PM on September 23, 2010

With the help of getting the three characters in text (thanks bread-eater) I can give you some info now.

It is related to Fukurokuju (His name is those three characters: 福禄寿) and he is one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japan. You can read more about him here.
posted by strixus at 8:20 PM on September 23, 2010

In Chinese Taoist mythology there are three gods, one for each character: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Lu_Shou.

It's a really common decoration motif.
posted by monocot at 6:47 AM on September 24, 2010

Source Chinese or Japanese? Sounds like the former, so better to call them hanzhi then kanji.
posted by Rash at 8:41 AM on September 24, 2010