Response to Signs (Response #37)

Uploaded 532 Days Ago by CraigMartin - - 10 comments

Photo © CraigMartin (Craig Martin) - picasaweb.google.com/craigxmartin
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User Comments

Lemmingstone said 532 days ago:

Nice use of the red. I'd be interested to know what this says.

EXP said 532 days ago:

Nice shot! I love the deep red with the neutral tones of the paper. I have no idea what it says though. Probably "SIGNS" sweet!

ImagoArticulus said 532 days ago:

I like the composition. A bit sharper focus would have been nicer.

philippe said 532 days ago:

Aaah! Excellent! A japanese (or chinese) stamp. I suspect someone signature, but it could be just a prop...

philippe said 532 days ago:

... and I was wrong. I'd like to know the meaning too...

CraigMartin said 532 days ago:

Thanks everyone for the comments, and the feature!

The writing is Japanese and very literally it means "the above" but in this context, at the end of a document, it is used to indicate the end, and could be translated as "That is it" or "That completes the above".

The stamp or "inkan" typically represents a surname; in this case the two characters sound "Ma Chin", a close approximation for Martin. The first character means "pure" or "truth", the second "rare" or "unusual" ;-) (one of the alternatives was devil from heaven, so hey).

In Japan an inkan is used instead of a signature, for everything from banking to contracts.

mtmartini said 531 days ago:

Congrats Craig on a great image, and thanks for the information on our surname, that's my one thing learned for today. ;-)

dcreighton said 531 days ago:

Learn something new every day. Interesting. Congrats.

King said 531 days ago:

Hey, I have one of those. Thanks for reminding me. Nice shot, too.

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