So we have come full circle now and this is the last in our Japanese Tattoo series for now. Although we will be publishing some articles soon on Japanese tattoos this is kind of the last featured post about Japanese tattoos through videos. We have kind of come full circle now of sorts. When we started we talked about tattooing for the Japanese in a historical perspective and how it was used to brand criminals. Then this was later outlawed and subsequently adopted by Yakuza. They would get full body tattoos that when you wear clothes no one could see but a small reveal of such a tattoo could strike fear in others.
Thus tradition lead to some of the most beautiful full body tattoo designs ever done and we even saw where people are buying the skin of a tattooed person who has died. There was some of these skins preserved at Tokyo University. Pretty chilling to hear as they talk about these being sold on the black market. Not sure how you would ever find your way into buying one of these but that is another post for a latter time. Suffice it to say it is probably not being sold on eBay.
Then in our more recent or last post we saw some video and a short documentary how many of the young people in Japan are getting tattoos. However they are in no way affiliated with the Yakuza and they just love the art form of tattooing. Thus has been the more significant trend over the last ten to 15 years and now many young Japanese show off their tattoos like here in the West.
Well in today’s video we make it full circle because recently the San Francisco Japanese Museum had an exhibit where they displayed some of the full body traditonal Japanese tattoos in their gallery as an art exhibit. They also invited many of the top Japanese tattoo artists to come from Japan to do tattooing.
Welcome to the 4th post in our series on Japanese tattoos. You will remeber in the first post we talked about the connection between tattoos and the Yakuza. It noted how early in Japanese history criminals were tattooed as a form of punishment. Thus making them untouchables. Thus lead to the modern day Yakuza tattooing themselves to make them stand out away from society as individuals and etc. I was more eloquent hopefully in the last post. However, what is happening today is the younger generations in Japan have adopted Western ways more and more. So along with this adoption of western norms has come a new breed of tattoo aficionado. Today many young people get tattoos for the pure sake of the art and the beauty of it and have no connection with the Yakuza. You could start to see that a little bit in the last video and you will see it even more in this video.
Today we will continue the series on Japanese tattoo designs. Remember that yesterday in our post we watched an older history channel video that was showing the connection between Japanese tattoos and the Yakuza. Today we are going to venture off the more documentary side of things and instead show a nicely done video that just shows images and pictures of tattoos. Many of these are Yakuza full body suits of tattoos however not all of them are. In fact that is one of reasons why this video and post seems appropriate. It shows a lot of Yakuza tattoos but also you start to see some images of tattoos on younger men that are just getting the tattoo because they love the art form and they love tattoos.
One little vocabulary lesson before you jump into the video however. Tattoos in Japanese are called Irezumi. Interesting vocabulary fact.
Here is a good video done by National Geographic. It shows the traditional side of getting tattoos. Now keep in mind that this video was done probably 15 or so years ago. Things have changed some since then. However, it shows the the history of tattooing within Japan.
Originally the Japanese government would brand and tattoo people who were criminals. THus lead to tattoos being outlawed. However, the Japanese Yakuza adapted this and went underground in a way by developing full body tattoos that could be hidden. Thus the full body tattoo suit would not cover past the wrist, ankle and typically has a space down the middle front of the body so when wearing clothes the tattoos are hidden.
Remember however, that this video was done in the past and tattooing has taken a major turn in Japanese culture. Yes there are still Yakuza and yes there are still many Yakuza who are getting full body tattoo suits. However, tattoos have also become more popular now and the younger generation is starting to get tattoos for the sake of art and body adornment and not necessarily tied with any Yakuza affiliation.
What do you think about this video and the tattoos? We will continue this series on Japanese Tattoos and in the next post look at some other Japanese Tattoo videos.
Are you sick of seeing the same old tattoo flash and tattoo designs on everyone and their brother. For example to you hate when you see another girl with a butterfly lower back tattoo or how about a guy with a barbwire armband? You probably don’t like these tattoos because they have been overdone and they are not original. So the question is how can you easily design your own tattoo and still have something quick, easy and inexpensive. Typically paying an artist to do a custom tattoo design for you can cost a good deal of money. There are all of the designs sites and designs that you can find online but are those going to work well if you want something unique? If you are not an artist yourself you might feel stuck just buying stock flash and going with whatever is in the tattoo shop. However, it does not have to be that way. With today’s computers, internet, and easy availability of resource materials for tattoo designs including free pictures, paid designs that are inexpensive and other sources it is pretty easy to create a unique tattoo design with very little pain or outlay in cost.
Making It Unique: Color
One of the best things to do is first find some stock flash or sign up with an online tattoo database site. Then find a few different tattoo designs that you like. Print these out and write down what you like about each design. Instead of taking each design exactly as it is you want to make some changes to it to make the entire design more unique and different. One easy way is to change the color of the design. If it is a butterfly tattoo for example you can trace the design and then change the coloration of it. A floral tattoo can also easily go through a color change. You might or might not be bale to effectively change the color and if you can go for it. However, if the color does not lend itself to a change then look at one of the steps below for some other ideas to make it look unique.
Making It Unique: Shape
Often it is very easy to change the shape in some way to make it more unique and different from the stock design. You can lengthen the overall dimensions of the tattoo or make it smaller. You can even leave a piece of the design out to change the size easily.
Making It Unique: Location
Yet another quick and easy way to make the design unique is to change the location of where you will get the tattoo done. Often a tattoo that is meant to be a lower back tattoo for example can easily be placed somewhere else on the body like a hip to make it unique and different. You might need to change the size or shape in some way to fit it into the new location easily.
Making It Unique: Variations
There are many different ways that you can change a tattoo and make a different variation of the original design. Change a portion of the tattoo by adding something to it or take something out. These can easily be done by tracing over parts and even combining two different tattoos to make something unique. For example you might like the swallow birds on one tattoo and combine this with a burning heart tattoo. The two swallows could be holding a banner over top of a flaming heart with something written one it. This can easily be done with some tracing paper and coping elements of the design you like and adding it to other design elements that you like to create your own unique tattoo design. So go ahead and mix and match and have fun.
It is so easy to quickly design your own tattoo. You really don’t need to be a professional artist. Just some basic computer skills or even basic understanding of design and some tracing paper and you can easily design your own tattoo that is unique and original and something that you can be the proud owner of. Just think about how cool it is to show your friends a hot looking tattoo design hat you created on your own. That should give you some definite bragging rights.
Here is another installment of our Question and Answer Posts on tattoos. The question today is from a young girl. She wants to get a tattoo with her sister that represents or says “Friendship”.
Here is what she wrote:
“me and my sister want to get matching tattoos that say friendship we were thinking of getting it in chinese characters on our wrist
do you have any other ideas or other characters that mean friendship…thanks “
My first response is to take your time and dont rush into getting the tattoo. If you are not sure what you want yet then you probably are not ready for the tattoo. So here are some ideas that might work for a beautiful freindship tattoo.
Well, honestly it is important to pick something that is meaningful tot he both of you. Since no one on this site knows that much about you both it is kind of hard to answer the question. Tattoos are very personal and should say something about the person wearing them.
With all of that said I would suggest you take your time in getting the tattoo. Some of the best tattoos that people love forever are the ones that took time to dream up, design and get tattooed. The ones people end up hating are the ones they got with their buddies or friends on a drunken night out on a whim. So don’t decide on a whim or because some message at Yahoo answers. Instead take time to identify what is special about your friendship. Is is the trust between you two? Do you have some similar interests that could form a tattoo design? Again take your time and contemplate for a while. I can almost guarantee that when you put it on back burner in like a week or two the idea will hit you with a ton of bricks.
Here are some common tattoos that can represent friendship.
Claddagh Tattoo Design – A Celtic ring with a heart in the middle and two hands holding it. This is often thought of romantically to represent boyfriend and girlfriend and even has become a wedding band. However, the symbol also represent true friendship and it does not have to carry the sexual connotation with it. It could very easily work for friendship.
Sun and Moon Tattoos - This could also be a star and moon or any other pair of objects that are often associated together.
Yin Yang – The Chinese symbol. I wont go into detail as you can Google it. But it represent the two halves of nature and the world in one complete whole.
Ambigram Tattoo - These are becoming very popular right now and look incredible. They are two words (could be your names) that get combined together to make one word that can be read right side up or upside down. So for example if your names were Lucy and Anne the two names would be combined. Then when read one way it would say “Lucy” and when turned upside down it would read “Anne”. The names have to be no more then two letters apart. If your names don’t work you could also do an ambigram tattoo of two important concepts to your friendship. Like Trust and Love or something.
Star tattoos are one of the most universally liked and most popular of all tattoos. These look hot on both men and women and they are very flexible and can fit in a variety of different designs. So choosing a star tattoo is a most obvious and easy design choice. Once you have settled on a star though it is time to think about which of the tattoo designs of star do you want. There are some different options. This article will help you look at some of the most common tattoo designs for stars and this will help you make your choices.
Nautical star Tattoos
nautical stars are probably one of the most popular of all tattoo designs. These can easily be done as one big star and stand alone or they are often combined as part of an overall design. These are a traditional tattoo that dates back to the sailors. Sailors would of course use the star to navigate by and using the north star would help them find their way home. Over time the north star became associated with a symbol of good luck and a safe journey. Therefore many of the sailors would get nautical star tattoos to ensure their safer return home.
Today many different groups like to use nautical star tattoos also. There of course is a close tie with many current people serving in the armed forces and especially in the Navy. They associate themselves with the sailors but also with the desire for a safe journey home. The nautical star can also symbolize following your own path in life and thus it has become a popular symbol for many rugged individuals. Often groups like those that are into rockabilly and punk music will get nautical star tattoos for the symbolism of following your own path in life.
Star Constellation Tattoos
Another popular option for star tattoos is to get a series of smaller colored stars that are sometimes grouped together. This could be five little stars that span across the top of your foot and are only a inch or so in size. Another option could be a much larger design of 10 stars that span across an upper or lower back tattoo design. Either way a very popular option for star tattoos is to get them in combination together.
Star and Moon Tattoos
Of course you can’t really have night and the star showing without the moon right? These two are always intricately related and they often can be combined to create a very effective tattoo design. Star and moon tattoos really go hand in hand. If you are looking for a design that is a little bigger and has some more detail then just a group of stars then you might want to consider a star and moon. By adding the moon you can add a lot more complexity and size to the design.
Shooting Star Tattoos
Shooting stars are also very popular among men and women both. Shooting stars are large balls of gass burning through the atmosphere. The association or symbolism in tattoos of a shooting star is living life to the fullest. Shooting stars are bright, brilliant and definitely live fast. Well, many like that association and want to live their life to the fullest. A sort of modern day equivalent to the Latin phrase Carpe Diem. The shooting star can be the tattoo symbol for the saying Carpe Deim.
Whatever star tattoo design you choose it is important to spend some time thinking about the design and carefully selecting what you want. There are a lot of options out there and you want to get something you will be satisfied with.
Looking for free butterfly tattoo designs? If you are you might want to check out this article and learn more about how to find great tattoo designs online. Don’t waste your time and get frustrated check out this article and know the exact steps to find great quality butterfly tattoo designs online quickly and esily.
Plumeria tattoos are probably one of the hottest tattoo designs out there. This is a design that has been a large part of many Pacific island cultures such as the Hawaiian and the Polynesian cultures as well as the Mayans. The plumeria flower has a deep history in these cultures with a lot of symbolism and meaning that has been associated with this beautiful flower. If you are thinking about getting a plumeria tattoo you will want to read on to know more about he symbolism behind it and the significance in these ancient tribal cultures.
The Hawaiian Culture
The Hawaiians have always had a close relationship with nature and the beauty of the island that they live on. They have always especially appreciated the ocean and the many flowers that inhabit their island. There of course is the hibiscus flower which is commonly used in lei’s and much of the traditional Hawaiian artwork. However, a flower that is equally as important to the Hawaiian people is the Plumeria flower. When you look carefully at many of the ancient artwork and even tattoo designs from Hawaii you can start to find that the plumeria even though it is a smaller flower is often right beside the hibiscus flowers. To the Hawaiian the flower is a symbol of Spring and therefor is associate with birth and life. So if you are looking for a symbol of liveliness and beauty this might be a flower that you can include in your design motif.
Plumeria Flower Symbolism And The Mayans
It is unclear what the exact meaning of the plumeria flower was for the Mayans however it is clear that this was a very important flower to their culture. Today we have glyphs and writing tablets that display flowers that are believed to be plumerias. From the best archaeologists and researchers of Mayan culture can tell there was a close relationship between the flower and the sun. They believed that the sun and the moon were the first inhabitant of the earth and through their procreation the human race was born. The plumeria was a symbol of this procreation and therefore most experts believe that it is a symbol of procreation directly and also indirectly a symbol for life.
Plumeria Tattoo Designs
Plumeria tattoos are great because they offer a great deal of flexibility in their design. They can be done in a variety of colors as well as different sizes. This allows them to be placed along or as a group of flowers or even with other animals and tribal designs. There are many incredible designs that incorporate the flower as part of a much larger tattoo that might include dolphins, turtles or other ocean themes. What you get with the design is really up to you and what other symbols are important to you.
Best Placements
This tattoo is very versatile and can go just about anywhere on the body. It is more typically a tattoo that women get but many men will get these in combination with a larger tribal design also. For women the tattoo can go any where but places like the top of feet, a wrist bracelet tattoo and even the back of a neck or lower back can all be very sensual places to get flowers. The hips and ankle also work well. Really just about any spot. The size of the design and the fact that it might be combined with other designs and ideas would determine the size more then anything.
———-
An intensive love for the art and expression that comes from tattoos and tattoo design has lead this author to write extensively about tattoos. If you found this article interesting then you might also be interested to learn more about <a herf=”http://hubpages.com/hub/Plumeria-Tattoo” >Plumeria Tattoo</a>. Here is another great resource on <a herf=”http://hubpages.com/hub/Irish-Tattoos” >Irish Tattoos</a>
For a unique version of this article go to <a href=”http://www.jetspinner.com/?spinit=22904″ >http://www.jetspinner.com/?spinit=22904</a>
If you were born between July 23 and August 22 then under the western astrological calendar you are a Leo. Leo have wonderfully gregarious personalities and love to be out there. They are often the life of the party and have a naturally affinity for the theater. Tattoos are very popular among most Leos because of the flair for the dramatic. If you are one of those people looking for a Leo tattoo for yourself or maybe you want to find a great tattoo for the Leo in your life then this article is for you. It will go into some design ideas for Leo zodiac tattoos
Leo Zodiac Tattoo Ideas: Lions
Lions are the animal most closely associated with the Leo sign and it of course is no mistake that lions are the king of the jungle. This fits perfect with a Leo’s personality of living life large! Therefor a very natural tattoo idea is to incorporate a large lion. Their great main can be flowing in the wind making for a rather large and majestic tattoo design that almost any Leo would be proud to wear. Also being king of the jungle means you get to wear a crown something most Leos will love so you might want to include a crown on your lion tattoo design.
Leo Zodiac Tattoo Ideas: Fire
Another great theme that can be used alone to develop a tattoo or in conjunction with other parts of a design is flames and fire. Fire is the element that rules the leo sign and therefore is closely connected with it. There are a lot of really great tattoo designs that incorporate fire and flames and they look incredible. There are lots of bright colors and strong bold lines making a flame tattoo incredibly attractive. There is always the flames from the wrist extended up the arms but you can also choose to use flames behind the lion. It is up to you but flames always make for a great tattoo design.
Leo Zodiac Tattoo Ideas: The Sun
In astrology the sun is considered a planet and therefore it is the planet that rules the Leo sign. This is another great source for tattoo design ideas. You can do something bold and big like a tribal sun on the upper back or chest or you could do a big yellow sun with beautiful metallic inks that really shines. Either way the sun is a common theme for tattoos and one that can give you a ton of great ideas to use.
Leo Tattoo Ideas: The Astrological Sign
As another option for your tattoo design you can always easily include the astrological symbol for the Leo. It is a sort of snake looking U shaped figure that can be done by itself but also will look great if it is incorporated into any of the above designs. It would work well with a background of flames behind it or possibly below a sun or Lion. Whatever you choose you might want to consider adding in the actual zodiac symbol for extra flare.
Leo Zodiac Tattoo Ideas: Written
Another option is to get a tattoo done with a written script. This could be something that is done in a variety of styles but typical a Leo would probably like something that is either bold and strong or something that has a very flowing script like text with lots of flourishes and fancy additions to it. Either way if you can not settle on any of the above designs you can always go with a written script version or you could use the script to enhance and define one of the tattoos. For example a lion with the words Leo written below it would help explain the tattoo well.
Who Should Get A Leo Tattoo
The greatest things about zodiac and Leo tattoo designs is they can all be easily adapted for either a guy or a gal. Some of the designs sound more like for a guy for example a lion. However even a Leo can easily be done with some flowers in their flowing hair and in a softer more delicate way and make an incredible and unique tattoo idea for women. So Leo tattoo can be done for guys or gals wither way it is a great looking tattoo design.
Entries (RSS)