I am a bit confused about this tattoo. If the characters are translated individually, one means "wrist" and the other means "white". Except, if they are translated as a phrase, in Chinese, it would mean "wrist is white", and "naughtiness" in Japanese.
腕 = wrist (Chinese); arm (Japanese)
白 = white, snowy, empty, blank, bright, clear, plain, pure, gratuitous (Chinese); white (Japanese)
腕白=a naughty [mischievous] boy (Japanese)
ReplyDeleteThis phrase is discussed at length here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?3,21262,21344#msg-21344
This may be a little late to post this but. . .
ReplyDeleteMormon missionaries who serve in Japan develop their own sort of lingo; and "wanpaku" is altered from the original Japanese (naughty) and used to describe someone who doesn't exactly follow the strict rules of being a missionary. Since tattoos and earrings are frowned upon by the church, this individual would definitely be "wanpaku".