People in Japan now fear Grande hates their country and their language.

American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande got herself a new tattoo recently, and while it was meant to read “七つの指輪” (“7 Rings”), in honour of her “7 Rings” chart-topping single, she shortened it to read “七輪”, which actually means “shichirin” or “Japanese BBQ grill“.

Despite initially appearing unfazed by the mistake, the 25-year-old vegan decided to fix her tattoo fail, but she only made it worse by adding another kanji in the wrong position, so now it reads “Japanese BBQ grill finger“.

The world went crazy for the news, with people posting their own parody tattoos online as the star was widely criticised for using Asian characters as an aesthetic. However, after a short period of silence, Grande bit back at her critics on the weekend, starting with this post, in response to the report that she’d been offered a million-dollar deal to get the new ink removed.

https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/1091779113470197760

Grande then went on a tweet-and-delete spree in response to criticism about cultural appropriation, with comments like:

“I also went back and got it fixed with the help of my tutor to be more accurate. I can’t read or write Kanji obviously. What do you want me to do? It was done out of love and appreciation. What do you want me to say?”

“You know how many people make this mistake and DON’T care just cause they like how it looks? Bruh…I care soooo much. What would you like me to do or say? Forreal”

Two of the tweets which really stood out for her fans in Japan, though, were these ones, where the singer said she would stop taking Japanese lessons.

https://twitter.com/F85687139/status/1092245246602240000

Grande also mentioned that every piece of merchandise with Japanese written on it had been pulled from her online store.

▼ Which means this Thank U, Next crewneck with “arigatou” (thank you) printed across it, is no longer available.

https://twitter.com/ruruka1006/status/1092790046086713345

The fact that the backlash over her Japanese kanji tattoo fail would have such a negative effect on Grande’s love affair with Japan came as a shock to many of her Japanese fans, especially given that the singer had previously been so vocal about her passion for the language.

▼ Grande has been studying Japanese since 2014/2015.

https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/566874187164573696

▼ As well as learning how to read and write Japanese, Grande has been learning how to speak the language as well.

▼ The singer often credits her tutor, Ayumi Furuya, from L.A.-based Fuji Online School, for her Japanese skills.

Furuya was actually the one who helped Grande fix her tattoo. However, Grande failed to follow Furuya’s advice to place the kanji above and between the two original kanji, which would have been a better solution than the one she wound up with.

Following the announcement that Grande would stop learning Japanese, her tutor sent out this message of support for the singer and asked fans to show some love with the hashtag #thankyouarianalikejapan.

▼ We can’t help but wonder if the hashtag used Engrish on purpose
as a show of solidarity for the mistakes people make when learning a second language.

Japanese fans were quick to use the hashtag on social media, along with another hashtag: #JapanLovesAriana. It became clear pretty quickly that Grande’s fans in Japan now fear that the singer harbours a dislike for their country, as many of the tweets include the request: “Please don’t hate Japan.”

https://twitter.com/Ariana3838/status/1092762334630559744

Though Grande is yet to directly respond to her fans in Japan and their trending hashtags, she did tweet out that she was loving all the support from her fans around the world, and was now considering getting a tattoo in their honour.

If Grande really is serious about getting a tattoo for her fans, she might want to consider another kanji tattoo which also begins with the number seven: 七転び八起き (“nana korobi ya oki”).

This Japanese proverb, which literally translates as “fall seven times, get up eight“, is a life message to never give up that Grande could take some inspiration from right now. Rather than disappoint her Japanese fans by giving up on learning the language, she might want to impress them by adopting the mindset of nana korobi ya oki, and get back up no matter how many times she gets knocked down.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSeLSrTg1wA/

So Ariana, if you’re reading this, take out that Japanese textbook, say konnichi wa to your fans again…and get that new tattoo.

Source: My Game News Flash
Featured image: Instagram/ayumi.sensei.fujischool

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