May 2012

Japanese Tattoo Lettering - History, Basics, and Style

In Japan, tattooing and tattoo lettering began primarily as an expression of spirituality. From approximately 300 BC to 300 AD, a Japanese tattoo always conveyed a certain religious meaning for its bearer, and also served as a decorative status symbol.
During this period, tattooing was meticulously practiced and highly regarded. For the tattoo artists, tattooing was not just an occupation, but a way of life. For instance, aspiring apprentices had to train under masters for many years before becoming credible and acknowledged tattoo artists, which are called "horis" in Japan. Only a horis was allowed to create full body suit tattoos.

All that changed when the government began to etch tattoos on criminals as a means of punishment. During the Meiji era, the Japanese government outlawed tattooing and forced artists to practice underground. It was legalized again in 1945, but until now, Japanese tattoos have never completely shaken off the negative association with common felons and the Yakuza, Japan's longstanding infamous mafia. Consequently, people sporting tattoos are known to be banned in many public baths and massage parlors by apprehensive business owners. Despite all this, Japanese tattoos continue to gain popularity domestically and worldwide because of the outstanding artistry of the designs and the deep mystical symbolism inherent to them.

Japanese tattoos are formed using words, images, and numbers, or different combinations of each. There are three kinds of scripts in Japanese:

Kanji - originated from traditional Chinese characters. Intricate and beautiful, these characters are used to convey concepts.
Hiragana - developed during the Heian period by women. It represents sounds, and looks feminine.
Katakana - series of characters developed by Buddhist monks. The style is sharp and masculine, and represents sounds.

Kanji, hiragana, and katakana are combined and used for lettering and can be written vertically and horizontally. Katakana is generally used for foreign names, places, and words that are of foreign origin. For Japanese tattoo lettering, people often use Kanji.

In the same manner as there are different lettering styles in English writing, there are also different writing styles to create Japanese characters. They are:

Kaisho, is the Japanese equivalent of block style.
Gyousho, is the equivalent of cursive style.
Sousho, is an extreme form of cursive, perhaps the equivalent of fancy Old English lettering.

Called "irezumi" and "horimono", Japanese tattoos are stunning but are rather complicated to create because there is no actual alphabet for the Japanese language. Written communication is a group of symbols representing sounds or general concepts. That's why it is so important to find yourself a tattoo artist who has extensive knowledge and expertise with the Japanese language, and its attached symbolism. Before getting a Japanese tattoo, it is best to follow these guidelines:

Free Japanese Tattoos Pictures

Japanese Tattoo Designs - The Only Comprehensive Guide!

Did you know that the ancient Japanese were intricately tattooed? Relics of discovered art such as statues and pottery revealed this. And the more interesting fact is that Japanese tattoo designs were first inked on the skin of Japanese who were in the upper strata of the society then. Many Japanese history scholars formed the conclusion that Japanese tattoo designs were used in ceremonies that define the ancient Japanese standings in society and to ward off bad spirits.
In contrast to the reasons of ancient China's practice of tattooing which had the primary purpose of labeling criminals and society misfits, the Japanese did it to elevate those worthy to be up there in society, thus, it was more of something that brought honor.

Apart from honor, Japanese tattoos were also made to inspire. The courtesans, geishas and artists wore tattoos that labeled who they were, what religions they believed and whom they loved. Well-practiced and kept values like religion and love were the common themes that were reflected on the skins of ancient Japanese people.

Some might find this odd, but do you know that the geishas had the names of their lovers' names tattooed on their arms to prove their love of eternity?This is what they called vow tattoo. But of course, in present day Japan, tattoos have become more of an expression of art rather than showcasing promises.

At certain stages of time, Japanese tattoo designs were characterized with elaborate details. However, there was also a time that the tattoos looked like small markings that looked like a mole. This was during the time when the tattoo served as the reminder of of cherished romantic moments like what part of the body had been touched by a partner.

Interestingly, at a particular time of Japanese history, tattoos were used to express political and social sentiments. Regardless of their place in society, almost everyone in Japan wore tattoos to make their sentiments regarding the political status of Japan from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century known.

On the whole, Japanese tattoo designs are closely related to the values, thinking and sentiments of its people. Prior to the existence and acceptance of full of body tattoos, the place where tattoo designs could be inked was the back of a person. But over time, a full body tattoo bearing symbols of folk lores and folk tales became rampant. These days, another part of Japanese culture and belief are reflected by the tattoos that they have, such as carp and other elements associated with water. Amidst all these changes in the purpose of having a tattoo in Japan---from classifying social status, vow of never-ending love, reminder of romantic moments to political protest---there's no denying that Japanese tattoos echo values, sentiments and art itself. Many of the Japanese tattoo designs that are popular today are very distinct to Japanese tattoo artists and are not only used on Japanese skin but on those who have been smitten by and in awe of the creative Japanese designs.

Free Japanese Tattoos Pictures

The History of Japanese Tattoo Art

Japanese tattoo art has a lot of names - irezumi and horimono in the Japanese language. Irezumi is the word meant for the basic visible ink covering big parts of the body like the back. Japanese tattoo art has a extremely extensive tradition.

Since the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism over the Japanese culture, tattoo art has a damaging connotation for the majority of the Japanese population. In the eyes of an typical Japanese a ink is considered a mark of a yakuza - a member of the Japanese mafia - and a macho emblem of members of the lesser classes.

The Early History of Japanese Tattoo Art

Archaeologists believe that the initial settlers of Japan, the Ainu citizens, used facial tattoos. Chinese papers tell concerning the Wa inhabitants - the Chinese name meant for their Japanese neighbours - and the individuals lifestyle of diving into water for fish and shells and decorating the total skin with tattoos. These reports are in the region of 1700 years old.

For the top developed Chinese culture, tattooing was a barbaric undertaking. As soon as Buddhism was brought from China to Japan and with it the solid influence of the Chinese culture, tattooing got harmful connotations. Criminals were marked with tattoos to punish and identify them within society.

Tattoos in the Edo Period

In the Edo period - 1603-1868 - Japanese tattoo drawings became a part of ukiyo-e - the suspended world culture. Prostitutes - yujos - of the pleasure quarters used tattoos to improve the individuals prettiness for customers. Skin tattoos were furthermore used by labourers and firemen.

From 1720 on, the tattooing of criminals became an legitimate punishment and replaced taking away of the nose and the ears. The criminal received a ring ink around the arm in support of every offence or else a character ink on his temple. Tattooing criminals was continued until 1870, at what time it was abolished by the new Meiji government of the Japanese Emperor.

This visible punishment produced a further genre of outcasts which had no place taking part in society and nowhere to go. A lot of these outlaws were ronin - master less samurai warriors. They had no alternatives than organizing gangs. These men created the start of the yakuza - the controlled criminals inside Japan inside the twentieth century.

Japanese Tattoo Prints

In 1827 the ukiyo-e artist Kuniyoshi Utagawa published the original 6 emblems of the 108 Heroes of the Suikoden. The Suikoden were something like ancient Robin Hoods - honourable bandits. The story is based on a classic Chinese novel - Shui-Hi-Chuan, which dates from the 13th and 14th century. The novel was initially translated into Japanese in 1757 by Okajima Kanzanion. By the turn of the 18th to the 19th century the story was available with illustrations by Katsushika Hokusai. The novel of the 108 honourable bandits was extremely accepted in the sphere of Japan and created a kind of Suikoden trend amongst Japanese towns inhabitants.

Kuniyoshi's Suikoden ukiyo-e emblems bare the heroes in colourful, detailed body tattoos. Japanese ink prints and tattoo drawings in general subsequently became stylish. Tattoos were considered iki - cool - however were restricted to the poorer classes.

How to Find Amazing Japanese Tattoos

Let's talk about where you can find Japanese Tattoos. Japanese tattoos are not very hard thing to find on the internet. I bet that you can spend less than five minutes doing a quick search on Google and find thousands of Japanese Tattoos. That's not the tough part though. The main problem most girls and guys have is that all they seem to run into are broad, low end pictures that are not worth the time to print out. One why around this is to do this, especially if you are using a Google search to find your Japanese tattoos.

Now do not take this the wrong way I love to use search engines but they are not just great for everything you are looking for. It's just that they pack with sub-par Japanese tattoos and tattoo artwork. I even tried it myself. No matter which styles of Japanese tattoos I was looking for, it was the same broad, low end galleries that rear their ugly heads. They were just loaded with nothing but run of the mill Japanese tattoos that aren't worth the time.

That's not the worst part of it, though...

When you look for Japanese tattoos at these galleries, most of the pictures they have were not even intended to be used as real Japanese tattoos! Can you believe that they would post this kind of sub-par artwork on their sites, but they did. They don't care if that Japanese tattoo was not really sketched in the way tattoo-art needs to be sketched. As long as it looks somewhat good, they are always willing to put it up on their sites. It's sad, because girls and guys end up choosing sub-par artwork like this and go to get them tattooed. They have no idea that it will not look anywhere near as great on their skin as it looked on the paper it was printed it on.