What Does 火信 Mean?


I saw 火信 tattooed on a gentleman's neck. I looked up the words, but couldn't
make sense of their combination...  
What does it mean?




_**Update:** It seems that it is most likely that the person who created it
was intending a Chinese word. However, since the kanji is valid Japanese
kanji, and since this is a forum about learning Japanese, I'm going to form my
answer based on the perspective of " **what if** they meant it to be
Japanese?"_

It is not a standard Japanese compound. However, that doesn't mean it
therefore can not be Japanese, and must be Chinese, or a mistake by the person
who wrote it.

If the two kanji were incorrect in the way they were drawn, or had extra
strokes only found in Chinese, then it could not be considered Japanese in any
way. However, both those kanji are standard [Joyo
kanji](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyo_kanji).

Japanese kanji can be combined to make new words, and is done frequently as a
part of the evolution of the language. People who are native or fluent enough
have the freedom to create new words, and when done right, people who have
never seen it before can catch the meaning. We do this all the time in English
with prefixes, suffixes,
[portmanteau](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau), and other ways.

Or, in this case, one could import the word from its Chinese origins, maybe
because they thought it was a cool concept that the Japanese language didn't
have yet.

So, that said, assuming someone wants the word to be Japanese, forget the fact
that this isn't in the dictionary. It's a new word, but still can be a
Japanese word nonetheless.

The kanji mean "fire" and "belief", respectively, and from there we can
extrapolate that it means something like "burning faith". We're factoring a
bit of poetic license in, because of the context of a tattoo, where that kind
of sentiment is expressed.

After testing it on some Japanese friends, it would definitely be read かしん,
and half I tested on guessed what I think is the intended meaning of "burning
faith". The others guessed "belief _in_ fire". No one guessed "firewire", or
anything to do with the "transmission" definition of 信.

But that's what happens when you make up new words. You don't necessarily get
perfect comprehension right off the bat. So you have to say "well, to me it
means...". Which is also a pretty common conversation people have when they
are talking about their tattoos.

So, in short, I think the consensus is that this is probably a Chinese word
that happens to use kanji that are commonly used in Japanese. However, if we
_wanted_ it to be a Japanese word, that would be perfectly valid.

* * *

_**Cultural observation:_** I believe that if the gentleman with the tattoo
was visibly identifiable as non-Japanese, it's very likely a lot of Japanese
would probably tell him his tattoo was not a real word, assuming he made a
mistake. If the gentleman was Japanese, then it would be assumed he was at
play with the language.

It's an extension of the unfortunate belief held by many Japanese that the
Japanese language is particularly inaccessible to non-Japanese people.




_**Update:** It seems that it is most likely that the person who created it
was intending a Chinese word. However, since the kanji is valid Japanese
kanji, and since this is a forum about learning Japanese, I'm going to form my
answer based on the perspective of " **what if** they meant it to be
Japanese?"_

It is not a standard Japanese compound. However, that doesn't mean it
therefore can not be Japanese, and must be Chinese, or a mistake by the person
who wrote it.

If the two kanji were incorrect in the way they were drawn, or had extra
strokes only found in Chinese, then it could not be considered Japanese in any
way. However, both those kanji are standard [Joyo
kanji](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyo_kanji).

Japanese kanji can be combined to make new words, and is done frequently as a
part of the evolution of the language. People who are native or fluent enough
have the freedom to create new words, and when done right, people who have
never seen it before can catch the meaning. We do this all the time in English
with prefixes, suffixes,
[portmanteau](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau), and other ways.

Or, in this case, one could import the word from its Chinese origins, maybe
because they thought it was a cool concept that the Japanese language didn't
have yet.

So, that said, assuming someone wants the word to be Japanese, forget the fact
that this isn't in the dictionary. It's a new word, but still can be a
Japanese word nonetheless.

The kanji mean "fire" and "belief", respectively, and from there we can
extrapolate that it means something like "burning faith". We're factoring a
bit of poetic license in, because of the context of a tattoo, where that kind
of sentiment is expressed.

After testing it on some Japanese friends, it would definitely be read かしん,
and half I tested on guessed what I think is the intended meaning of "burning
faith". The others guessed "belief _in_ fire". No one guessed "firewire", or
anything to do with the "transmission" definition of 信.

But that's what happens when you make up new words. You don't necessarily get
perfect comprehension right off the bat. So you have to say "well, to me it
means...". Which is also a pretty common conversation people have when they
are talking about their tattoos.

So, in short, I think the consensus is that this is probably a Chinese word
that happens to use kanji that are commonly used in Japanese. However, if we
_wanted_ it to be a Japanese word, that would be perfectly valid.

* * *

_**Cultural observation:_** I believe that if the gentleman with the tattoo
was visibly identifiable as non-Japanese, it's very likely a lot of Japanese
would probably tell him his tattoo was not a real word, assuming he made a
mistake. If the gentleman was Japanese, then it would be assumed he was at
play with the language.

It's an extension of the unfortunate belief held by many Japanese that the
Japanese language is particularly inaccessible to non-Japanese people.

