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Confirming what Jarvik said, I have seen quite a lot of tattoo parlors here in Tokyo. I went to Miura beach a few days ago and just in front of the station was a clearly visible tattoo parlor. I also saw some tattooed people on the beach, and no one was freaking out because of that.
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I know a few young people with tattoos, and if you go to a rock festival or something you'll see a ton.
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"Westerners having kanji tattoos are usually considered a joke by Japanese people."
This.
I appreciate that the Bushido code is something that you are familiar with and you have trained martial arts for a very long time and as such feel an affinity with the philosophy. It's a valid argument that for those reasons you might feel strongly enough about the code that it represents you/that you try to live by it. That's fair enough.
However, if you want to live in Japan with that emblazened on your arm(s) you will have to be prepared to be STARED at NON-STOP WHEREVER you go. You'll have to put up with awkward stares, people plainly making comments about it in front of you whilst giggling to their friends.
Try even wearing a tshirt with kanji on it in Japan as a foreigner for a day or two then see how the Japanese react. It's all well and good saying "I don't care what others think"... it's a whole other thing to have to bear the awkward stares every time you set foot out of the house.
I'm not opposed to the tattoo itself so long as it's done right. Though I am definitely warning about how it would make living in Japan tough. I sometimes wear a kanji tshirt that has 夢 on it cos its my favourite kanji and kanji is something I really love... and trust me... just because you love something doesn't mean everyone else is going to stop making you feel REAL awkward about it.
Just... think about it.
Although, if you're never ever going to live in Japan/live in a community with relatively little chinese people then yeah. Why not? White ppl just dun get kanji so they'll think it's cool.
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It seems to me that TS isn't studying Japanese or is planning to live in Japan. Is that true? In that case I don't see the problem.
You know what you're in for.
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does anyone know where the 7 typical virtues of the samurai actually come from? i was wondering, because i couldn't find any reference to it in the Japanese wikipedia, only in the english one... that's the only place i've looked though...
(it talks about the way the philosophy was taken from and adapted from confuscianism, but i couldn't find any mention of the 7 virtues themselves)
to the op: i don't think you necessarily need to have it down both arms... it depends how big you really want it to be. It's possibly worth trying to get an artist to make something that looks good, if you don't want to design it yourself...
Edited: 2011-08-13, 6:17 am
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As stated by others, having a tattoo's in Japan isn't a real problem. You will only be required to cover the tattoo's in certain establishments. Just like in English, wearing something that has no real meaning or errors is strange. There has to be meaning associated with it. Even Chinese view it as strange when there is no meaning.
There will always be people with very strong negative view towards Tattoo's. In Japan it isn't about Westerns having tattoos, it is just about recognizing it as tattoo's in general.
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@Katsuo, From what I understand is the original poster wants 「義勇仁礼誠。名誉。忠義。」 in that order, 5 words and 2 words. That is the order that they are written from the book 武士道, and the order it will generally be found in. I kept the punctuation during my reseach for clarity. It will be written vertically 「義勇仁礼誠」 on one arm, and 「名誉忠義」 on the others.
I always thought that those who get elaborate Buddhist tattoos where drastically missing the point. A friend of mine in Hawaii spent $2,000 to get one across his back. The first thing that crossed my mind was, "Wow, that could have sponsored all the basic living expenses for 10~20 refugees for a year in a Himalayan monastery or orphanage. What a waste of good karma!"
If you believe in the more esoteric beliefs in Buddhism, there are negative rebirth aspects to having tattoos as well. Though, I try not to let the more superstitious aspects of the tradition affect how I act.
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@Pinkheaven, I really can't make out what the Kanji on his shoulder is. It looks like 俺 （Ore - Japanese for I）, but I assume it is a Chinese Kanji. Do, you know what it is?
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Ah yes, the rainbow body, didn't expect the implications to go this far, but it makes sense (sort of). I didn't remember the orifices bit though -- time to re-read. I'll see what I can find on Kalu. Thanks. ^^
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Kanji are visually rich, iconic and cool irrespective of your knowledge of Japanese and its writing system, and I don't think even a partially talented artist needs to ‘know’ the kanji in order to reproduce its appearance from a good sample.
Unfortunately it seems most samples are flawed in some way and the artists don't bother checking them, or wouldn't know how to verify their accuracy or appropriateness of style, and most people don't seem to care because they just see the characters as neato ‘Oriental’ gibberish that they infuse with inaccurate mystical meanings, and probably don't know many people that would know the difference anyway. So naturally a sneering system of checks and balances has arisen, even if it's sometimes overeager.
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I am recieving alot of good information. I would like to train someday in Japan yes....but thats such a faraway dream, that Im just not too concerned about it at the moment. Another reason Im not concerned is because my tattoo will mostly be hidden, under my arms. The kanji is a small part in the tattoo Im getting, but I still want to make sure its correct. I have been planning this tattoo for 2 years now, so Im not rushing into it blindly.
Overall I can respect the fact, and Im not overlooking it, as to how Japanese people will view it. But as I said, this is for me, and I honestly dont see how its any different then people tattoing english words. And as one poster said, Im doing this with or without your help. You can help me make it as correct to the Japanese language as possible, or I can have a butchered piece of culture on me for the rest of my life.
@katsuo & Omoishinji, what Im wondering is, if I should place on of the other tenets like "honesty" with the "honor" and "loyalty" tenets on my other arm to even it up? Someone told me that the single kanji tenents are connected, and that they flow and if I separate them and place one of them with the 2 kanji tenets, that it will throw off the flow. What do you think?
Edited: 2011-08-13, 7:32 pm
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@Antoher0z, in the text listed in the original post their are 7 of them. That is the five one word Kanji first, then the two word Kanji compound. It does sound reasonable to place them together, written vertically from right to left. The flow is about the inner meaning that you want.
