# happiness - happy



## SãoEnrique

Hi there,

Could you help me to write the words *happiness* and *happy* in Japanese? I am confused and I never tried to write them because I dunno it.

Thanks


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## JapanForever

happy : 楽しい, 幸せな 
happiness : 幸せ or 幸福
Hope it helped you


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## SãoEnrique

JapanForever said:


> happy : 楽しい, 幸せな
> happiness : 幸せ or 幸福
> Hope it helped you



Thank you JapanForever Once, I saw the word* happy *written with only one hiragana


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## JapanForever

Do you mean this one? うれしい


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## JapanForever

Usually, hiragana are often written for phonetic. Kanji are often more easy to understand but more difficult to write.


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## SãoEnrique

Here is this kanji.

Thank you JapanForever if you can see  
http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3yrWTmqsVLE/T.../PblpW-5jpgk/LEANDRO%2520OKABE%2520TATTOO.JPG


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## JapanForever

Ah. Yes. That doesn't mean really happy, but more "luck, fortune" or "blessing". Indeed, *福* can mean "happiness" but more in Chinese than Japanese I think. However, the derivated term 幸福 is more appropriated for "happiness" in japanese. Hope it helped you.


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## SãoEnrique

But this kanji is Chinese for you? To me, it seems more at the Chinese too. I tried to see how is the kanji in Chinese but they are not the same...


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## JapanForever

There are the same in Japanese and Chinese. I searched for it on the net, and just their meaning is rather different. Some kanjis in Chinese have been taken in japanese so it wouldn't surprise me. 
There is what I found : 
*福 *(chinese) : good luck/blessing/happiness
*福 *(japanese) : luck/fortune
Maybe you found a different kanji. If you could send what you found, I could check it.


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## SãoEnrique

In this link the sense of tne sign I posted, is "luck" like you said?


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## JapanForever

Yes, it is.


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## SãoEnrique

JapanForever said:


> Yes, it is.



Thank you


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## lammn

JapanForever said:


> Ah. Yes. That doesn't mean really happy, but more "luck, fortune" or "blessing". Indeed, *福* can mean "happiness" but more in Chinese than Japanese I think. However, the derivated term 幸福 is more appropriated for "happiness" in japanese. Hope it helped you.



I'm afraid your comment about Chinese is not quite true. Even though some C-E dictionaries have translated the Chinese character 福 as "happiness", but in practical usage, 福 means more like "blessing" or "fortune" rather than "happiness", (i.e. similar to the Japanese kanji), unless you are talking about words like 幸福, which does mean happiness.


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## JapanForever

Yes, I especially talked about it and I'm agree with you when you said 幸福 is more about happiness than 福. I think it can be used for "fulfilled" or luck instead of happiness.


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## lammn

JapanForever said:


> I think it can be used for "fulfilled" or luck instead of happiness.


福 does not mean "fulfilled".
Where did you get that meaning?


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## Schokolade

SãoEnrique said:


> Could you help me to write the words *happiness* and *happy* in Japanese?





> Here is this kanji. Thank you JapanForever if you can see
> http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3yrWTmqsVLE/T5...2520TATTOO.JPG



So... the question is "What is happiness/happy in Japanese?" or "What does this kanji mean?" ??


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My kanji dictionary (角川漢和中辞典) says 福 means ①さいわい, しあわせ, 幸福 ②神から与えられる助け ③さいわいする ④よい, めでたい ⑤ひもろぎ(神籬), 神に供える肉. 
It also gives さいわい as a reading of 福.


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## SãoEnrique

What is the sense of this Japanese kanji, please? 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3yrWTmqsVLE/T5...2520TATTOO.JPG

Apparently, it means "happiness" I saw this in many threads.


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## Flaminius

Moderator Note:
Reference to Chinese and Japanese is inevitable in this thread as there is no knowing in which language the text, composed of a single character, was written.  Still, the thread had a few non-linguistic comments better suited for PM.

福 being happiness is not so apparent, *SãoEnrique*.  If the question is whether or not there are compound nouns that mean happiness and contain the character or the morpheme 福, then the answer is yes.  It is, however, probably not your question.

I assume you are wondering what 福 means in isolation.  You are, then, asking what this WORD mean in the Japanese language.  According to *lammn*, the answer is "blessing" or "fortune".  I agree with her.  [Incidentally, she also says 福 means the same in Chinese.  Only with this comment do we know that determining the language is not necessary for discussion.]

Digging further, I realise "blessing" or "fortune" meant by 福 are material success; a beautiful faithful spouse, many children doing well in school, a great career (traditionally in the bureacracy), a lot of money, powerful friends, a big house, longevity etc., etc.  In a sense, 福 means conditions for happiness but not happiness itself.


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## Guajara-Mirim

Good night, I have read your answer Flaminius (thanks for having explained) but *what do you understand by seeing this sign *in Japanese from the link of SãoEnrique?


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## Flaminius

I'd understand it as fortune.


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