Japanese Tattoo Symbols
What is it about Japanese tattoo symbols that seem to captivate the Western world? Full of rich history and deep meaning these characters make great tatts.
The one thing that you will find within many aspects of Japanese culture is color. Color tends to be everywhere from film to art, which is why Japanese tattoo symbols often include a lot of color. Different hues represent various meanings that can turn an ordinary design into something extraordinary. Even though Japanese culture is just starting to become popular within the Western world, the ancient art of the tattoo has been around for centuries.
You can trace Japanese tattoos all the way back to 5,000 BC. Archaeologists have discovered various clay figures that have had their faces and bodies painted in order to resemble tattoos. Many years later, a tattoo upon a person’s body often signified that they were a social outcast. Numerous criminals were tattooed in order to warn the public of their crime. Interestingly, since those with tattoos were often cut off from all friends and families, they eventually joined together. Often, criminals were also samurais that did not have masters (known as “ronins”), and there happened to be a lot of them.
Eventually all of the Japanese ronins got together to form street gangs, and this is how the Japanese mafia (Yakuza) began. Many years later during the end of the Edo period, townspeople wanted to believe in folklore and legend once again owning to the collapse of the feudal system. Thus, symbols depicting great stories once again began to surface. As the popularity of the tattoo began to spread, wood cutters left their trade in order to pick up a needle and charcoal ink – that’s right, the original Japanese tattoo artists were actually wood cutters. Still, tattoos were legally prohibited until 1948 when the prohibition was lifted. Today, many Japanese often hide their colorful tattoos due to the earlier stigma that was once attached to them. Japanese tattoo symbols can be found in nearly every Western tattoo shop today, though there aren’t a lot of these shops in Japan.
Finding a truly beautiful tattoo should not be hard given the fact that there are many gorgeous designs to select from. Make sure that yours includes lots of colors and details.
The history of Japanese tattoo symbols is truly interesting. From the time of the Samurai (and even before that) tattoos were simply a way to express true personal identity.