Ariana Grande attempts to correct mistaken Japanese ‘barbecue’ tattoo

Ariana Grande has made a correction to her Japanese tattoo after a mistranslation meant it mistakenly referenced a barbecue, but many believe the fix is still incorrect.

The pop star had tried to pay homage to her hit single 7 Rings by writing the song’s title in Kanji symbols on her hands, however missing characters meant the writing translated to “a small charcoal grill”.

After the issue was pointed out by many Japanese-speaking fans on social media, the 25-year-old has now corrected the tattoo in an attempt to ensure it reads “7 rings”, with an added heart symbol at the end.

However, some are claiming the new tattoo is still incorrect, with Buzzfeed Japan reporter Eimi Yamamitsu stating it now reads “Japanese BBQ finger”.

Before the correction, Grande posted a screenshot of her conversations with her Japanese language tutor, which show it being explained to her how it should be written and where the symbols should go.

However the tutor’s explanation had the additional symbol placed above the original two, while the tattoo correction has the new one placed below.

Buzzfeed’s Yamamitsu explains this is a problem due to the direction Japanese is read, creating the translation meaning speakers would most likely read it “Japanese BBQ finger”.

Grande posted the updated tattoo to her Instagram with the caption: “slightly better. thanks to my tutor for helping me fix … rip tiny charcoal grill. miss u man. i actually really liked u.”