My Custom Tattoo: Tattoo Designs

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.

Should you know something about the history of a certain design and tattoo before you put it on your body or do you just get a tattoo because it looks cool.

Today more and more people guys and gals are getting traditional Japanese tattoos. It is common now to find a female with a large quarter sleeve tattoo design of a koi fish. Women are also tending to get large cherry blossoms, and chrysanthemum tattoos. On the male side of thing sit is not uncommon to also see a large koi fish. Also men are getting large samurai tattoos and other traditionally Japanese designs.

However, how many of these people know the roots of the tattoo design an the art of tattooing in Japan? I have heard more then one person say, Well I got the tattoo because it looked cool dude.” so and on so forth. I have heard this many times and always in different ways. It is the same thing with much of the traditional tribal tattooing like Hawaiian and Polynesian tattoos. In fact it could even go into Celtic tattoos. So that brings us back full circle to the question again. Should you know something about the history of the tattoo or is it completely irrelevant and as long as the design looks cool you can ascribe your own meaning and significance to it?

That is a good question that of course will have debaters on both sides. However, being somewhat of a traditionalist and also having family that lives in Japan I must admit I cringe when I see people with large traditional Japanese tattoos. It is not the tattoo itself but I always worry if the person knows the story behind the tattoo or the design. In fact, one of the worst offenses is the infamous Japanese Kanji tattoo that is written backwards or incorrectly or does not even translate into anything that makes sense. So I tend to fall on the traditional side of the debate and feel a person should really do their research and find out as much as they can about the tattoo.

So in that vein the next few posts that I will be making here will feature videos that have been done on Japanese tattoos and the history behind them. Keep in mind this really is just a primer to get someone started and in no ways is exhaustive. So come back and watch the videos and learn something about the art of tattooing and the history of tattoo in general but more specifically Japanese tattoos and tattoo designs.

Interested in Fairy Tattoo Designs? Ever since the whole lower back tattoo came into fashion and tattoos have gone mainstream a fairy tattoos have become very popular. Just about everybody and their sister wants a fairy tattoo. it is pretty easy to see why also. Fairy tattoos are flexible in their design, the size can easily be adjusted and they can look great on just about any location on the body. Have you really been considering getting such a tattoo. Well here are some things that you should consider first and then also a little gallery and even a super cool video.

Think About Location
photo credit: danielle_blue
The first thing you really want to nail down as you start to consider such a tattoo is the location for the design. You don’t want to just slap it on any old place after all you will have this tattoo for the rest of your life. Therefore it can make snese to take some time and carefully consider where you will place the tattoo. Think about where you would like it to go and even what body part you would like to accentuate and show off? For some women it is of course the lower back but other women might prefer a foot location. Yet others still want the fairy design on their chest or the shoulder. There really is no right or wrong just a bunch of different ideas. Most important pick someone that you will be able to show off your tattoo pretty easily and not somewhere you might be embarrassed of.

Think About Mood
The other thing you should consider is the mood and pose of the fairy. Of course a fairy can be done in a cartoon style with a cute cartoon style girl. Or it can be a very realistic looking fairy. What you choose again is up to you but think carefully. The mood of the fairy will convey a lot fo the meaning behind the tattoo. If you just want to get the tattoo to get one then it is better to wait and carefully make your decision.

Thing About Colors
Again the mood of the tattoo will be conveyed through the design. If you want something sexy it is going to look different then something that is cute glittery and pink. If you are a Gothic girl then you might want your fairy don in black.

Well so make some choices before rushing out to your local tattoo shop. First think about the location for your design. Do you want an ankle, shoulder, or hip tattoo? Then think about the pose the fairy will be in and last but not least think about the colors you will use as they also convey a message.

Here is another installment of our Question and Answer Section.  I have even added and Question and Answer Category so it is easy to find all of these posts.

This person is contemplating getting a nautical star tattoo on their wrist.  However, the person is worried about a possible connection with being gay or lesbian.

Here is the question

I was planning on getting a tattoo of a nautical star on my wrist in a few days & I read that it stood for being gay or a lesbian, but trust me, I’m not a lesbian. I’m 100% straight. So I was wondering if it really stands for that.

And here is my answer:

That is a great question.  In fact the nautical star tattoo has a long symbolic history and it is a hotly debated tattoo at this point.  Well, hotly debated might be too strong but the symbolism of it is debated for sure.  I wrote an article about this a few years back which you can read more about in the link below.

The nautical star tattoo was originally a tattoo that sailor got.  They would get this after making a long journey for a certain amount of miles.  The exact meaning of the colors and how far the journey was has been obscured and lost over time.  Originally a blue nautical star might mean something different then a red nautical star.  However, what was clear is that for all sailors during this time the nautical star was a representation of the north star which was used to navigate by while sailing (think before computer and GPS).  The North Star was thus used to navigate and find ones way home.  Thus that tattoo of a nautical became warped into a symbol of good luck and safe return.  These early sailors were a very superstitious bunch of guys and lived a very dangerous life so they needed all the good luck they could get.

At any rate this has been one of the oldest and most tattooed symbols ever.  Today many in the military services still get nautical star tattoos to represent good luck, and a safe return home.

However, the symbol has also been picked up by many hardcore, punk and musicians to represent more a feeling of Independence.  Finding ones own path through life.  Thus it is a Symbol of strength and rugged individualism and following your own path.

Strangely enough not sure where the connection has come from exactly but for very similar reasons to the above many Gay and Lesbians also get nautical star tattoos.  Typically also meant to represent not following the norm and making your own path in life.

That is where the symbol gets hotly debated as many military guys don’t want to think that the symbol could be used to represent gays and lesbians.  In fact when I wrote the article I had people commenting and sending me email with all kinds of not so nice messages.  I was just reporting facts as I know it but at any rate they did not like the article.

So should you get the tattoo or worry if people think you are gay because you got it?  Who knows that is a choice you will have to make on your own.  But I would say if you are really worried that people might think you are gay then you probably are not ready to get the tattoo as tattooing as an art form is 100% about self expression and it should be meaningful to you and what other people think is really not your concern.

Here is the link tot he nautical star tattoo article that I wrote a while back

Nautical Star Tattoos A Strange Mix Ninja hd