The first thing you notice about a tattoo is its distinctive style. Despite its rather violent and stigmatised beginnings, Japanese tattoos are still very popular. Gone are the days when you were a yakuza when you wear such; luckily, we are only left with the exquisite style and designs the Japanese artists perfected.
As with anything with a strong cultural meaning and tradition, it is also important to respect the Japanese tradition of tattooing when you choose a sleeve or different tattoos.
Traditional Japanese Tattoo Etiquette
When you choose a Japanese tattoo, you also choose to abide by the following:
- Make a statement. Japanese tattoos are meant to be artworks that you wear proudly. It is intended to cover your entire back, arm or leg with pure, clean colours. This tattoo style is not made for those who want a little feather or a hidden symbol with symbolic value.
- To show respect for the culture and yourself, include themes and symbols that are part of the Japanese culture and traditions when you make it your own. Flowers often help to soften the harsh boldness of the often violent images of dragons, snakes, tigers and warriors.
- It is traditional for Japanese tattoos to be done by hand; no electric machinery was used in the original method. Look at our artist portfolios to find the right one for you.
Japanese Tattoo Composition
When you look for Japanese tattoos to get an idea of what you want, you will notice a few similarities around the compositions of the tattoos.
Bold. These tattoos are clear and to the point, and there is no question about what the image depicts. The compositions work as high contrasting colours are used inside the tattoo, while line work and background colours ensure that the image stands out in contrast. The black and flowing background of waves, flowers, and fish makes the Japanese style a popular choice for sleeves to combine images in the foreground in a smooth manner.
Movement. You will notice that with dragons, fish, humans, or trees as traditional Japanese options – there is always a sense of movement that you can see in the tattoo. This illusion is created by using white space and shadows to create contrast and highlight moving areas.
Breaks. Depending on the image you want, you will often notice empty gaps in the tattoo to either break up the solid background to give it character or, in water, to create the glare of water in reality, such as a koi pond.
You will also notice that the best way to create this contrast is for artists to use brown or black as the background, but that they also finish the background first to see where shadows and emphasis should be on the inside of the tattoo. It is an intricate and delicate style that our artists have to master, and they have numerous awards to prove their mastery of this style of traditional Japanese tattoo art.