Kanji??

[Sochin]

The short story is that I do bonsai and like to collect small stones and rocks to help show them off.

I found a dark grey stone with white marks like this

Stone: link (http://pacificcoast.net/~ttruscott/ideo.jpg)

I was just wondering if it formed any kani by turning it any direction....

[David Craik]

Not that I recognize..but they are sure interesting marks.

[pgsmith]

Any way to post a picture of the stone?

[Sochin]

pg,

what a concept - I'll get on it!

(I'm so slow...)

[ninjandrew]

Interesting marks indeed. I sure dont know what they are. Doesnt even look like Kanji to me. Where did you get it??

[Sochin]

Here are 2 jpegs:

[KempoCat]

hi ted

referring to your first picture, i guess that if it didnt have the stroke at the top right hand side, then you could say it resembles the ideogram for 'fire'...

otherwise, not really.... i guess....

[Sochin]

Thanks,

I googled fire kanji and I see what you mean, close, very close.

[KIT]

Agreed in your drawing the left hand side looks like the "fire" kanji.

Looking at the stone, it looks like someone botched shin/kokoro. The "heart/mind" kanji.

[Kimpatsu]

Personally, folks, I don't think they say anything. Man is a pattern-seeking creature, and we look for meaning even when it isn't there (pareidolia). I don't think those are any Japanese characters, Ted.
The stones are still very attractive, though.

[Aikido_Girl918]

Well, first, why did you rule out that it could be Romaji? I don't know much about Japanese yet, but if there is a good reason not to consider it may be Romaji, please inform me, I am very interested. It may not be Japanese at all, but I definately think it is some sort of writing, then again, I look harder than most people do for things out of the ordinary. It is a very interesting stone. It is easier to learn what it could say if you know about the stone itself. How old do you think it is? Where did you find it? Personally I think it looks like some sort of picture, but I can't quite figure out what it is a picture of. But that is just my personal opinion. correct me if there is some reason that it is not possible.

[P Goldsbury]

"Romaji" means Roman lettters, letters of the alphabet like a, b, c.

[Aikido_Girl918]

thankyou! i'm still curious about that stone. it's very interesting. there is something that it reminds me of, but i dont know what

[Sochin]

Fanci asks:
"It is easier to learn what it could say if you know about the stone itself. How old do you think it is? Where did you find it?"

I found it on a beach on Vancouver island and have no expertise on dating rocks. The base rock is gabro (volcanic melt) and the white marks are feldspar, probably.

That's all I know...