These are the Japanese kanji for ningen, "human being, person, man." The first character, read as hito by itself also means "person," but it is usually used in compounds. The second character, when read alone is aida, and means "relationship, between, space." A person cannot truly be a person on their own. Without relationships with others there can be no real humanity.
These characters, read seikatsu, mean "life." Like all kanji compounds, both characters have separate meanings. The the first kanji alone means "life, birth," among other things. The second kanji means "active, vigor." Without activity in a person's life, there is no real life.
Kame no kou yori toshi no kou. "Wisdom from age is better than the shell of a tortoise." Or, put simply, "The older, the wiser." Thank you, my ancient friend.
Nice!
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