Kanji for Tattoos

Kanji translates literally to "Han's characters" and are the name given to one form of writing of the Japanese language. The characters themselves were adopted by the Japanese from China, where they were first created. The oldest kanji known to historians dates back to somewhere between 17000 BC and 11000 BC and are carved into animal bones.

Their flowing shapes and mysterious symbolism have made them a popular choice in the Western world of tattooing. Some fans like having a tattoo say something that not everyone can read outright, other just like how they look.

But getting a good kanji tattoo takes a bit of time and research to get it right, and since tattoos are either permanent or cost approximately ten times the original tattoo price to get removed via laser, it's worth putting in that time before any inked needles are put to skin.

Kanji are symbols that have evolved in their look over time and come in a half a dozen variations.

1. Pictographs - these kanji often take shapes that look like the things they represent.

2. Ideographs - these represent abstract concepts like indicating a direction or a number.

3. Compound Ideographs - this is when kanji are combined to express a more complex concept. For example, the single kanji for "tree" is repeated twice when you mean to write "forest."

4. Phonetic-Ideographs - another compound construction where a representation symbol and a phonetic one come together to form a new word.

5. Derivative characters - these are kanji interpretations that are more colloquial.

6. Phonetic Ioans - with these kanji, the sound of the word is paramount over meaning and this is how many imported foreign words are handled.

Bad translations - This can come from using an online translator, which tends to translate literally and inelegantly, or from just believing what "anyone" says about what the kanji mean. All those urban myth stories about someone just picking a phrase off the tattoo parlor wall and winding up with something ridiculous or rude tattooed on them are all based on something that happened to a stupid person in real-life. Verify any translations with a native speaker of the language who is a person you can trust.

Mistakes in application - Believe it or not, but one of the most common reasons that kanji tattoos turn out wrong is that a mistake is made when the stencil is first put on the skin. Pay attention to what your tattoo artist draws so that they do it correctly. Remember with writing, the stencil must be a mirror image in order for it to read correctly after it's been applied to the skin. Be sure to double check the design before any tattooing starts, and if the work is going to be where you can't see it clearly, bring a friend to check for you!