Cherry Blossom Tattoos - What Do They Mean

Writen by Chris Ryerson

Cherry blossom tattoos are some of the most popular tattoo designs for women currently. The beauty and delicate nature of a cherry blossom can’t be denied. In both Japanese and Chinese cultures the cherry blossom is full of symbolic meaning and significance. Before deciding to get a cherry blossom tattoo design it makes sense to understand the symbolism and deep cultural connections and meaning that this tattoo might hold. After all the best tattoo designs are ones that hold a great deal of symbolic significance. Typically the tattoo that is universally regretted is the one that was gotten while out with a bunch of friends just because they were getting one. So don’t fall into the trap and regret your tattoo later in life. Instead if you are planning on getting a tattoo at least take the time to research the symbolism and meaning behind it and see if it speaks to you and if the ideas are significant in your life.

While many people tend to blend and confuse the Japanese and Chinese culture together from lack of knowledge the two are very different in many ways. Therefore the meaning and symbolism that the cherry blossom holds is different in each culture.

Chinese Cherry Blossom

For the Chinese the cherry blossom is a very significant symbol of power. Typically it represent a feminine beauty and sexuality and often holds an idea of power or feminine dominance. Within the language of herbs and herbal lore of the Chinese the cherry blossom is often the symbol of love.

Japanese Cherry Blossom

For the Japanese the cherry blossom holds very different meaning. The cherry blossom is a very delicate flower that blooms for a very short time. For the Japanese this represents the transience of life. This concept ties in very deeply with the fundamental teachings of Buddhism that state all life is suffering and transitory. The Japanese have long held strong to the Buddhist belief of the transitory nature of life and it is very noble to not get too attached to a particular outcome or not become emotional because it will all pass in time.

The fallen cherry blossom is not taken lightly in Japanese symbolism either. It often represents the beauty of snow and there are many connections made in Japanese literature or poetry to a fallen cherry blossom and snow. This also has been extended to the life of a warrior whose life was ended early in battle.

As you can see in both cultures the symbolism and meaning behind the cherry blossom is very significant and powerful at the same time. It is important to think about these symbols and connect this with what your personally believe the cherry blossom represents. If you still want to get a cherry blossom tattoo and the above meaning from the Japanese culture or the Chinese culture do not speak to you or you’re somehow view the cherry blossom in a very different way then it is okay to still get a cherry blossom tattoo. However, it is always important to know the symbolism before getting a tattoo permanently done.

Chris has been running http://www.DesignMyTattoos.com website for over a year. He likes helping people find the custom tattoo designs and where to get them done by professional tattoo artists. Check out the site and post a job to get your own custom tattoo design. Also you can check out http://www.TattooDirectory.info for great Tattoo Design Galleries and ideas.

Tattoo Books Help You Make An Informed Decision

Writen by Richard Davies

Tattoo books are a very helpful and informative source of ideas. With the help of tattoo books you will be able to decide what may be the right tattoo for you personally. There are literally hundreds of tattoos available on the market so finding a good one will not be a problem. When you go into a licensed parlor you will often find that they have tattoo books available for you to take a look at with many different tattoo designs. Everything from Chinese symbols and more risqu

How Japanese People Translate Names in Complex Kanji Symbols?

Writen by Takanori Tomita

How to write your name in JapaneseNowadays, just as we, Japanese people, love to use English symbols or phrase on T-shirt, Logo or jewely design, Westerners start to use Japanese Kanji Symbols for their own design needs as well.

The most popular use of Japanese Symbols is for tattoo designs, and today, this article tells you how your name is translated into Japanese Kanji symbols.

Although there are 3 different Japanese scripts called Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana, the most popular Japanese symbol as a tattoo design is Kanji.

What is Kanji Symbols?Kanji are ideographic characters. It means that each of Kanji symbol represent not just a sound, but an object or idea. Historically, it is imported from China.

Let’s write your name in Japanese Kanji symbols Now, when we write names in Japanese kanji symbols, we can use several different ways to translate. First of all, the key to successfully rendering a name into Japanese symbol is deciding what you want to achieve.

Today, a professional way of Japanse name translation is disscussed. That is, the phonetic and eulogistic transcription, and used when you want to get both the pronunciation and the original meaning of your name.

In this case, we choose a kanji symbol according to each character’s sound, and also combine them with an appropriate meaning.

For example, we write Emma in Japnase kanji symbols. Emma can be written by using 2 kanji symbols. The pronunciation becomes “e ma” in Japanese, while the meaning is “Eternal Truth”. You see, we use the Japanese kanji symbol which has “e” sound and “ma” sound, and in this case, we have chosen Eternal kanji symbol whose sound is “e” and truth kanji symbol whose sound is “ma”.

Also, Kanji has 2 different ways to read and has several different sounds. So, let me also mentioned about the Kunyomi and the Onyomi.

The onyomi has developed from the original Chinese pronunciation but over the centuries it has been adapted to and become part of the Japanese language. On the other hand, the kunyomi is native Japanese word.

To write names, we use both kunyomi and Onyomi reading. But, English names are usually translated with Onyomi reading, and if the sound of onyomi reading of a kanji character is the same as the sound of your name, its kanji character is allocated.

For more information about the Japanese name translation

Henna Design Is An Ideal Way To Get A Temporary Tattoo

Writen by Richard Davies

Have you ever seen henna design? It’s simply captivating as an art form. It’s used in society as a popular way to produce natural tattoos that are temporary by nature. It harnesses the power of nature and produces beautiful manmade results in the form of temporary tattoos.

Henna designs are rich with colour. Artists that perform henna design often have a portfolio of designs to hand that you can choose from. Find one you like and have it put on you by the artist. There’s no need to worry about any long term effects due to the fact that by nature itself they aren’t long lasting. The artists requirements in terms of what they need to work with is quite minimal. A portfolio design and some henna combined with a large helping of creativity is all that’s needed. The henna design is then drawn onto the subject as per their requirements.

Henna designs tend to last for the longest duration of time on both the hands and feet, so this is where they are most commonly drawn. It is then put on the skin using something such as a brush, then once completed it its wrapped which results in a vibrant colour. Henna designs last anywhere from one to four weeks in duration. This is largely dependent upon what quality of henna paste was used.

Some henna designs can be very finely detailed with great complexity, which you may find surprising for something that is most certainly finite. I guess all good things come to an end, but the great thing is you can get another great design drawn onto you whenever you like. If you decide you do ever want a henna design or a permanent tattoo be sure to check out our site for more great coverage.

Kanjis - Mistakes to Avoid with Japanese Style Kanji Tattoos!

Writen by Declan O Reilly

Asian inspired tattoos are increasingly popular in the West. Chinese dragons and Japanese tattoos have been mainstream for years. There seems to be no let up in people getting tattoos in Asian style writing. In the West Kanji tattoos started becoming popular in the 1980s. Nowadays even kids are getting temporary tattoos out of vending machines with kanji style tattoos!

But are kanji tattoos really that popular? Some tattoo artists state that one out of every 20 people looking for a tattoo asks for a kanji style tattoo with Asian lettering. It has also created another problem namely people getting kanji tattoos which can mean something completely different than what they think it does.

There are many urban legends of disgruntled tattoo artists tattooing words like ‘loose’ and ‘whore’ onto a persons body because they feel that the person getting the tattoo does not really appreciate tattoos as an art form but is just slavishly following fashion.

It is always a good idea to keep in mind before you decide upon a tattoo that kanji is based on a different form of language and is unlike english in its construction. Be sure to spend time researching the authenticity of each symbols’ meaning. It could be rather embarrassing to learn later on after you have been tattooed that the Kanji tattoo you thought meant one thing turned out to be something completely different.

If you don’t speak Japanese it is very hard to find characters that say what you want and are not something that will turn heads with native japanese speakers for all the wrong reasons. Trusting a non native speaking tattoo artist is recommended either as the tattoo artist may be as much in the dark as you are. It is highly recommended that you do your reasearch before rushing off to get a kanji tattoo character done.

*Important! Read this before you get your kanji tattoo.

5 Hot Tattoo Styles

Writen by Declan O Reilly

Body art and tattoos have become so popular now that people who would have ran the other way are exposing their skin to the tattooists needle. It is not uncommon to get a glimpse of some office worker in the boardroom sporting a sexy rose tattoo on her chest, floral design on her lower leg or even some tribal artwork tattoos on her lower back. This is a testimony that tattoos are becoming more and more acceptable in a corporate environment traditionally no go zones for any form of personal expression.

What are the hottest tattoo designs?

‘New School’ Style Tattoos. These are a modern version of the ol’ sailor Jerry style of tattoos such as anchors and swallows. They are much brighter and more animated than their predecessors which look very flat in comparison. A lot of people especially females are asking for tattoos of swallows and anchors on their neck.

Japanese Kanji Tattoos. Japanese style tattoos are so popular amongst females who are going for “full sleeve” style tattoos depicting Japanese characters such as koi or carp fish.

Floral and Love Heart Chest Tattoos. This style can look so sexy on a girl! There is a certain timeless look with these tattoos harking back to the good ol’ days of the 1950’s.

Star Tattoos. These have always been popular but more people are getting them done on visible places such as wrists and on the lower legs. Unsuprisingly Hollywood stars are lining up for the tattooists chair and demanding tattoos that reflect their lives.

Tribal Tattoos. Tribal tattoo designs have been around for hundreds of years but are becoming more and more complex and constantly evolving and morphing into what has become known as neo tribal tattoo styles. Tribal styles can be traditional ‘black work’ covering the arms or more colorful styles characterised by the ‘Modern Primitive’ look covering the entire body.

Tips for Getting Tattoos

Choose your tattoo carefully. Don’t go for some off the wall ‘flash’ tattoo. A good tattoo artist loves doing ‘custom pieces’.

Try not mix different tattoo styles such as Japanese and Tribal styles. It doesn’t work!

Go to a reputable tattoo artist not some backstreet ’scratcher’ who is cheap but you will inevitably regret later. Build a relationship with the tattoo artist if you plan of getting a lot of tattoos.

Take proper care especially of newer tattoos. As summer approaches a lot of people get tattooed and can’t wait to flash them off. Be careful that you do not expose your new tattoos to too much sun which will fade them.

Review different styles of tattoos and view pictures of tattoos in Tao of Tattoos new galleries. Subscribe for FREE to ‘Kinky Ink’ ezine for the kinkiest tattoos and coolest people. Strictly for those with a serious fetish for body art and tattoos!

Japanese Kanji Tattoos

Writen by Chris Ryerson

Thinking about getting a Japanese Kanji Tattoo? These are definitely very popular items to get tattoo of. The beauty of the Japanese and Chinese calligraphic style of writing has a definite allure to many people. That coupled with the fact that the writing is foreign to most of us and therefore looks mysterious and magical. Therefore Japanese Kanji makes a great artistic item to get tattoos done of.

However you have to be careful. You see my wife is from Japan and is a classical trained calligrapher. I can’t tell you the number of times each week that we see someone with a beautiful looking tattoo that doesn’t make sense. You see for the tattoo artist in the local tattoo parlor if you pay the money and want the tattoo that is good enough for them. They get paid and Kanji tattoos are often pretty inexpensive and quick to get done from a tattooist stand point. So they don’t worry to much about the accuracy of the tattoo.

However these flash kanji tattoos that are hanging on the wall in most local tattoo parlors have been bought and copied and sold over and over again and a lot has been lost in the translation. Meaning these images are often missing strokes, or the strokes are done out of order, they are upside down, or just plain the wrong symbol and have a very different meaning. In fact there is even a wonderful blog website done by a Chinese American who people send pictures to and check the accuracy of the Kanji tattoo they had done. The problem is 90% of the time what they think that tattoo says and what it actually says or doesn’t say is often pretty different. There are even horrible stories about people getting things like the word diarrhea tattooed on themselves thinking it said something different.

These errors can happen for two reasons.

1. The difficulty of translating English Words into a foreign language. Often there is no exact translation and even an exact translation might not even make sense to a native speaker.

2. Tattoo artist lack the knowledge of the proper way to form the letters.

You see it takes the Japanese at least 12 years of school to learn to read and write properly. Not like in the US where most 2 and 3rd graders can read pretty fluently. In the Japanese language there are three different alphabets hiraganna, katakanna, and Kanji. Most tattoos are done in Kanji. However there are over 10,000 different symbols in Kanji and the order of strokes that it is written and each little tiny part of the kanji has meaning.

If Of course if you are not to concerned about what your tattoo says then it doesn’t really matter. Go ahead and just get it done at your local tattoo parlor. However if you are concerned about it being accurate then you should either post a job for a custom tattoo design or consult with someone who is a native speaker of the language.

Chris has been running Design My Tattoos website for the last three months. He has thoroughly enjoyed helping people to get custom tattoo designs done by professional tattoo artists. Go ahead and check out the site and post a job to get your own custom tattoo design. If you are a tattoo artist and would like to earn some extra income go ahead and sign up as an artists and make some money in your spare time. You can read this article on Japanese Kanji Tattoos here and other articles by clicking here. We also have an extensive Celebrity tattoo galleries and design galleries on our site.

An Overview Of Tattoo Removal Techniques

Writen by Gabriel J. Adams

After coming to the decision that you want to remove your tattoo you have to decide how you plan to do it. There are a few different ways for you to choose from and you have to figure out which way is right for you.

One of the most common techniques to remove a tattoo is by using a laser. The laser will help break up the ink that is imbedded in your skin so that it can be absorbed by your body. It can take a few treatments to fully get the tattoo to disappear and even then you can be left with a scar.

Another method uses a substance known as glycolic acid to help remove the tattoo. This acid, unlike the laser, is used to help bring the ink to the surface of the skin. After the ink has reached the surface it can be removed without leaving as big of a scar as the laser treatment.

Both of these methods can be expensive and can cause scarring to the tissue in and around where your tattoo was. These methods can also cost a good bit of money depending on the size of your tattoo.

This last method isn’t the actual removal of your tattoo but a cover up of your old one. Some tattoo artists are able to transform your old tattoo into something different depending on what you want your new design to look like and what your old tattoo is.

When it comes down to removing a tattoo it is very much possible in today’s world. What was once a permanent mark on your body can be taken off with special techniques used for tattoo removal. However, there is still a chance that you will carry the scar with you for the rest of your life.

Bad Ink - Recognizing When It’s Time For Laser Tattoo Removal

Writen by Robin Derry

Ahh the joys of youth. Rebelliousness and anti-authority impulses. Edgy friends and edgy garage and hip hop music. Late nights. New found freedoms of expression. No wonder that tattoos caught on with kids, athletes, musicians and artists, businessmen and even your local book-organizing prim librarian. Why not show that you’re unique, that quiet smug knowledge that you’re-still-you and not entirely the Company Man?

It seems that around 25,000 people receiving laser tattoo removal treatments each year have concluded that “my tattoo just doesn’t look right anymore…it’s not me”. Art, ego or simply a pragmatic understanding that people-in-careers need to project a clean “professional look”?

What’s Involved In Laser Tattoo Removal? Unlike getting your tattoo, which may have taken minutes or an hour, removing tattoos is more involved. Why? Because, your “artwork” is not clinging to your skin surface like a band aid, rather is imbedded deeper within the sub-dermal tissues. With laser tattoo removal, you’ll undergo a series of treatments, each spaced 1 to 2 months apart in order to allow your skin rejuvenation to occur. Your total treatment period may be 6 to 12 months in order to achieve the sort of skin resurfacing results you’re aiming for.

What Are The “Obstacles” Blocking Your Results? It’s in the nature of a tattoo to be “permanent”. It’s no wonder that “permanent” artwork may take some serious treatment before it yields.

* Color Of Tattoo Inks - Light Colors Stay On. Laser tattoo removal succeeds best when applied to red and black colors. Once you add lighter colors into a tattoo design, then not even a laser can truly treat these skin areas with success, due to the fact that these color do not absorb the laser. For example, white colors actually turn black when laser treated.

Result? These lighter colors merely fade or convert into a “smudge” rather than disappear.

* Better Tattoo Artists Create Technical Hurdles To Laser Removal. When you were impulsive, the idea of getting a tattoo from a “virtuoso” tattoo artist would be the crowing touch to what may now be considered “one of the dumbest decisions I ever made”. When it comes time for laser tattoo removal of a highly artistic and intricate design, then the artist usually wins over the machine. Meaning? Some areas of your tattoo remain impervious to laser removal therapy.

* Ink Chemistry - Whether FDA Sanctioned or Not. Inks are not simply inks. While the FDA does supervise the class of ink chemistry applied to tattoos, this doesn’t mean that the local screwball tattoo shop might not see the opportunity to make more money by substituting the class of “printer inks”. These dangerous inks set into a tattoo that in many cases will not respond to laser light treatment. Reason? These inks have an unique chemical profile or “signature” which does not permit the levels of laser light absorption necessary to actually remove the coloring.

Health Risks Of Laser Tattoo Removal. Local anesthetic is used to numb your tattoo treatment area. Only one section of your tattoo is treated at each session. You’ll need 1 to 2 months before your next treatment in order to heal. Could you get infections, or not heal properly? Of course. And what about “mixed results”, where the tattoo more-or-less is gone, yet your skin pigmentation has been damaged? Yes, skin pigmentation

How to Get Rid of Your New Tattoo: Tattoo Removal Techniques

Writen by Michael Douglas

A lot of people love their tattoos and keep them forever. But others decide a couple of years down the road that they really don’t like that rose on their ankle or snake on their bicep anymore. Or maybe that name that is tattooed on your arm is no longer valid, and needs to be changed? For centuries people have been following many traditional methods to get their tattoos removed.

Here, it is important to note that many cases of tattoo removal have resulted into scars, skin diseases and wounds. All this depends on several factors including size of the tattoo and its location as well as the length of time it has been on the skin.

There are several excellent methods of tattoo removal available today.

Laser treatment is one of the most common methods. Different wavelengths of light are used for different pigments. The laser beam passes through the skin and is absorbed by the ink. This causes the ink to break down so that it can be removed by the body’s lymphatic system.

Excision, where the dermatologic surgeon removes the tattoo with a scalpel and closes the wound with stitches (In some cases involving large tattoos, a skin graft from another part of the body may be necessary.

Dermabrasion is another removal method, which involves freezing the skin, then sanding the surface with an abrasive instrument. Because the pigments are located in the middle of the skin, pain, bleeding and or discomfort can be expected.

Salabrasion, in which a salt solution is used to remove the pigment, is sometimes used in conjunction with dermabrasion, but has become less common.

Surgical removal sometimes involves the use of tissue expanders (balloons inserted under the skin, so that when the tattoo is cut away, there is less scarring). Larger tattoos may require repeated surgery for complete removal.

Regardless of which method of tattoo removal is used, some scarring or color variations are likely to remain. And last but not the least - tattoo removal can be pretty expensive. Depending on factors like the size and design of the tattoo, removal can cost significantly more than the actual tattoo.

Michael Douglas, a renowned tattoo artist shares his most sort out tips on tattooing to make it a memorable experience life long. Get to know more about Tattooing and Body Piercing at http://www.time4tips.com