Kanji Tattoo Designs – Made in Japan
On of the possibilities of tattoo lettering is adorning your body with symbols of exotic alphabets like Japanese or Chinese. They are of great attraction to western people as the unknown always draws public attention. Indeed, various tattoo letterings with hieroglyphs can make a perfect tattoo.
Kanji tattoo designs are basically Japanese ideograms, with one character representing a whole object or idea. This is the most essential difference of ideographic alphabets from English and the majority of the world languages where each letter stands for a sound and virtually means nothing when used alone.
Kanji ideograms make only a part of Japanese writing system alongside with the katakana and hiragana “alphabets.” Katakana is the most familiar to westerners while kanji is the oldest among them and originated in 4 century AD when the Japanese borrowed pictograms from the Chinese and reconfigured them.
Kanji tattoo patterns are numerous; about 3500 characters are known to a well-educated Japanese person. The only thing you should remember is that you should know for sure what this or that symbol means, so consult special sites dealing with interpreting of kanji symbols before you get a tattoo.
The symbols are also read, they stand for syllables, so you can render your name in kanji. For name Melissa, for instance, you’ll need three symbols, one for each syllable. Moreover, as kanji symbols have several meanings as a rule, one and the same symbol can convey very different meanings. This gives you a possibility to choose that ones that are closer to your preferences and worldview. The combination of them will have a unique meaning, so you not simply write your name in kanji but also supply it with a concept.
Kanji tattoo designs are not all about names. Symbols may be depicted in connection with some picture, or just alone to represent what they are designed to. There are also haiku tattoos done in kanji symbols. A haiku is a poem from several lines that captures the moment as it is and implies some philosophical thought.
Many people who resort to kanji tattoos choose them just for their appealing nature. It’s an interesting fact but actually Japanese, as well as Chinese, see nothing special in this tattoo style and it’s almost unknown in Japan.
Kanji Tattoo Designs – Made in Japan is a post from: Tattoo designs and ideas by Tattooique
