Japanese Tattoo Ideas

What Is Traditional Japanese Tattoo Style?

Traditional Japanese tattoo style has been around for centuries and continues to be a popular choice for both descendants of Japanese culture and those from other cultures who simply love the rich history, vivid imagery, and stunning design work of this Japanese art form.

Japanese-style tattooing is about more than just the choice of imagery. It’s about the way a tattoo is designed, the color palette chosen, and how the tattoo flows with the wearer’s body.

Both men and women can find plenty of inspiration in our gallery, or by looking through Japanese tattoo art books. Japanese art has truly been around for thousands of years.

So looking back in history, from the pre-Edo period through to today, can offer plenty of inspiration for your next tattoo.

Best Japanese Tattoo Placements

Japanese-style tattoos can be placed anywhere on the body. However, they often depict larger scenes showing animals, nature, and other design elements pieced together. So people often tend to choose larger body parts for their Japanese tattoos.

Large back or chest pieces and full shoulder and sleeve tattoos are just a couple popular placement choices.

But the placement you choose for your tattoo depends largely on what image you’re getting done and how big you want it.

Don’t be scared to talk to your tattoo artist about it and see what sort of professional advice they might have for you!

Women’s Japanese Tattoo Ideas

Geisha dangers, cherry blossom trees, Hannya masks, Buddhist deities, animals, and Japanese-style nature scenes are just a handful of popular tattoo ideas for women.

The best way to design a Japanese tattoo for a woman is to pick a design, whether you create it on your own or choose it from our AI-generated library. And then talk to your tattoo artist about different ways they can add a more feminine touch to the design.

Men’s Japanese Tattoo Ideas

Dragons, tigers, koi fish, Samurai warriors, and katana swords are just a few popular Japanese tattoo ideas for men.

But more than any single design element, it’s the whole of a Japanese tattoo that tends to make it more or less masculine.

For example, a Japanese-style cross with flowers might look a bit more feminine. But a savvy tattoo artist can take such a design, replace the flowers with flames, Phoenix wings, or Japanese-style waves, and suddenly the design appears much more manly.

Men may also look to Yakuza-style tattooing, also known as traditional irezumi, for men’s Japanese-style tattoo inspiration.

Such tattoos often cover large portions of the wearer’s body and depict traditional Japanese imagery, like dragons, tigers, cranes, or samurai.

Japanese Tattoo Meaning

The meaning of a Japanese-style tattoo largely depends on the specific imagery and design elements present in the tattoo.

Samurai warriors and Oni masks are often thought of as forms of protection and a way to ward off negative energy. But other types of Japanese tattoos can have different symbolism attached to them.

For instance, katana tattoos are often done to symbolize strength. Japanese dragon tattoos might symbolize wisdom or secret knowledge. Koi fish and Japanese-style wave tattoos might represent the fleeting nature of life.

Either way, you’re free to choose whatever meaning you want for your Japanese tattoo!