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I just had the Chinese Character for "Humble" translated from the back of my plate. This plate was given to my family in 1945 via a Japanese friend while we lived in Japan. Was very surprised to find character is Chinese.

Anyone know info on Humble artist or the attached plate. Thanks Beverly Riley

It's not that the Japanese artist signed himself with a Chinese name, but rather that the Japanese adopted Chinese characters over 1,000 years ago (as did the Koreans, though nowadays the Koreans use Hangul almost all the time). The Japanese and Koreans then assigned their own pronunciations to the characters, or they adopted a variant of the Chinese pronunciation (sometimes both). Sometimes the meanings have diverged however. In Japanese usage, the character on your plate does by itself mean "humble" but here is likely to be used as a name or symbol of a porcelain maker, and pronounced "ken".

It's not that the Japanese artist signed himself with a Chinese name, but rather that the Japanese adopted Chinese characters over 1,000 years ago (as did the Koreans, though nowadays the Koreans use Hangul almost all the time). The Japanese and Koreans then assigned their own pronunciations to the characters, or they adopted a variant of the Chinese pronunciation (sometimes both). Sometimes the meanings have diverged however. In Japanese usage, the character on your plate does by itself mean "humble" but here is likely to be used as a name or symbol of a porcelain maker, and pronounced "ken".
Thanks for the info. I had actually been given the Ken translation first and than the humble so you make it all clear. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can gather information re the mark or design. Again thank you, Beverly Riley

Sorry, I don't know much about Japanese ceramics, but I suggest reposting using a subbject something like "Requesting help for 'ken' mark on a Japanese plate". That may call forth the Japan experts. Otherwise, try browsing these:
http://www.ceramic-link.de/icd/pages/marks/marksbycountry/japan.htm

"Ken" (謙), meaning "modesty" or "humility", can be a Japanese surname or given name. It and other standard Chinese characters are called "kanji" in Japan, where they constitute the roots of written language. Nowadays kanji is found in newspapers and other print mixed with phonetic characters.

Your plate looks like it may depict a castle or temple complex, which area might be identifiable through further research or by a Japanese Buddhist devotee.

Best regards,

Bill H.

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