History of Japanese Tattoos

The Japanese tattoo has a very long history, and may have made its first appearance as far back as the 5th century BC. However, tattoos did not gain respectability for a very long time. From the 6th century AD onwards, they were reserved exclusively for punishment and both criminals and untouchables were identified, with marks on their arms or foreheads.

It was only in the late 17th century that the tattoo began to evolve from a shameful brand into a decorative embellishment. But it was not until the mid-1800s that it really started to take off, under the influence of a very popular book called Suikoden or The Water Margin.

Finally, just as high society was becoming interested towards the end of 19 century, the government decided that tattooing was a threat to public morality and tried to outlaw it altogether. The country was being opened up to the West for the first time and the fear was that tattooing gave outsiders the wrong impression, suggesting that Japan was a superstitious nation and out of touch with the rest of the world. Ironically, the ban against tattooing did not extend to the incoming foreigners who were thrilled by the intricacy of the Japanese work and only too happy to submit themselves to the needles of the masters.

Even today, the tattooed are a very secretive people who tend not to display their decoration in public and prefer to leave a river of clear skin running down the chest so that they can still wear the traditional hapi coat without fear of exposure.

In Japan, where the body is treated as a whole canvas, the tattoo is a work of art which may take many hours to complete. The tattooees must be only too well aware of the commitment , both of time and money, involved. What is it then that motivates them? Perhaps it is the desire to acquire a badge of belonging or to undergo a rite of passage which will mark the transition into adulthood. Or maybe they see their tattoos as talismen to keep them safe from danger or disease. Whatever their motivation, once tattooed, they will never be fully naked again.

Japanese Tattoo Designs

Japanese Tattoo Design - Finding the Superb Artwork

A Japanese tattoo design is not a very hard thing to locate on the internet. I bet that you can spend fifteen minutes and find a bunch of them. That's not the problem, though. The issue most men and women have is that all they seem to run into are generic, low end images that are not worth anyone's time. Here is an easy solution to this, especially if you are using a search-engine to find your tattoos.

I don't want to get too down on search engines. They are absolutely fine for finding just about anything you want on the net. It's just that they really suck when you are looking for anything like a good Japanese tattoo design. I even tried it myself. No matter which styles of tattoos you are looking for, it is the same generic, low end galleries that rear their head. The yare packed with nothing but cookie cutter designs that aren't worth anything.

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

When you look for a Japanese tattoo design at these galleries, most of the images they have were not even meant to be used as real tattoos! It's crazy that they would post this kind of artwork on their pages, but they do. They don't care if that Japanese tattoo design was not truly drawn in the way tattoo-art needs to be drawn. As long as it looks half way good, they are always willing to throw it up on their website. It's sad, because men and women send up picking images like this and go to get them tattooed. They have no clue that it won't look anywhere near as great on their skin as it looked on the paper they printed it on. That's not the type of Japanese tattoo design worth settling for. In fact, they aren't even real "tattoos"!

Ok, enough of that mess. So, how can you find a great Japanese tattoo design without rummaging through so much generic, low-end stuff?

It's actually pretty easy and will change the way you search for many things, including a Japanese tattoo design. Everything you need when t comes to locating tons of galleries of tattoos is an internet forum. Actually, you should use as many as you wish. They are the perfect place for finding out where the hidden galleries are. You see, there are a lot of topics revolving around tattoos inside of forums. This is why it is a good idea to look there, because these topics usually have tons of links that people have found. They are usually to the hidden galleries that have so much of the great artwork you've been missing out on. It's an efficient and different way to find the Japanese tattoo design you want. It doesn't; take long to use them and it beats the heck out of seeing the same old artwork all the time.

No matter which Japanese tattoo design you choose, just make certain that you are 100% happy with it before getting it tattooed.

Japanese Tattoo Designs

Japanese Tattoo Designs and Their Meaning

Japanese Tattoo

If you live in the western part of the world, I am sure you are fascinated with the Japanese culture from the east. Having the unique and awesome type of art, Japanese tattoos are widely admired and seen as a flexible tattoo design.

You can actually choose from the Japanese characters or the symbols with certain meanings. Popular designs like that of the typical Japanese house during the Meiji era, faces of some excellent representations of samurais, the ever famous "Sakura" flower, dragons and fire with a Kanji symbols with them are still in style.

Don't know exactly what these things are? Well, if this is your first research in choosing a Japanese tattoo then you have to read all your researches carefully so you could choose the right tattoo for you. Continue reading and know more about the Japanese tattoo perfect for you.

If you prefer a simple but striking Japanese tattoo, a Kanji character is just right. Japanese writing is in two forms, Hiragana and Katakana. The cursive way of writing is Hiragana, which is most popular among women, and the simpler type is Katakana. Both of these styles of writing descended from Kanji. Kanji are the characters that came from China which are also used in the modern Japanese art of writing.

Aside from that, the ancient or traditional Japanese house is also another possibility. The houses are built with that remarkable scale-looking rooftop, wooden walls with a thin paper-designed sliding doors and large stone footpath leading to the front door. Typically, traditional houses have great landscapes outside their territories. Bamboo trees are often seen in the surroundings.

This bamboo tree can solely be another Japanese tattoo design for you. If you tend to be closer to nature, Sakura flower is the trademark of the Japanese culture. The tree bears eye-catching flowers and it is indeed magnetizing.

For a strong-willed type of person, images of a samurai or even the sword alone can give you the right attitude. In Japanese history, the art of tattooing is also prevalent in the old times. This is a sign of bravery and belongingness to a certain group. But then, tattoos became out of the picture that Japanese use tattoo for criminals.

They brand them with these markings to give an identification of a wrongdoer. As a result, these people bearing tattoos formed a gang that became known as the yakuzas.

Sounds great, right? It's time you decided from those varieties of tattoos mentioned and feel the culture in the deepest of your skin. Choose well on the design for your tattoo means "Japanese forever".

Japanese Tattoo Designs