Kanji tattoo ideas

50 photos and flash · 60% Japanese, 20% Lettering · Back most common

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Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a woman's face with flowing hair and swirling feathers, with vertical kanji beside her, on the upper arm.
Woman portrait with kanji on upper arm
Large Japanese-style back tattoo of a geisha in a circle, surrounded by cherry blossom branches, a red sun, a mountain, a folding fan and kanji.
Geisha and cherry blossom back piece
Flash-style drawing of a leaping brown fox with a teal wash swirl, next to a bold black kanji character meaning fox, on a white background.
Leaping fox beside a kanji character
Japanese style tattoo on the inner forearm near the wrist, with two bold black kanji characters surrounded by red flowers with green leaves.
Red flowers and kanji on a wrist
Colour Japanese-style tattoo of a teal and yellow mech figure among cherry blossom branches, with two black kanji characters, on skin.
Mech with cherry blossoms and kanji
Japanese back piece in black and grey showing two guardian lion statues beside a pagoda and kanji, with coloured tattoo work on the upper arm.
Guardian lions and pagoda across the back
Black ink Japanese-style tiger design climbing downward with a curled tail, beside the kanji 虎, printed on orange textured paper.
Tiger with kanji on orange paper
Colour photo of a Japanese style cherry blossom branch tattoo with pink blossoms, black branches and a black kanji character on the forearm.
Cherry blossom branch with kanji on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a black branch with pink cherry blossoms and black Japanese characters beside it, in a Japanese style, on the back.
Cherry blossom branch with kanji
Hand-coloured flash drawing of a red and orange feather with a black kanji character beside it, shown on a cream background, with no body placement visible.
Red feather with kanji character
Flash sheet of 29 hand-drawn East Asian characters in black brush lettering, each labelled in English with words such as Courage, Heart and Honour.
Single-character word flash sheet
Black ink flash design of a cat face built from tribal-style swirls, dots and small cat motifs, with no body placement shown.
Ornamental cat face tattoo design
Black and grey realism tattoo of an eye with long lashes and a small hand inside the iris, with Chinese-style characters above it, on the inner forearm.
Realistic eye with characters on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a blue anime-style character inside a yellow card frame labelled The Rain, sitting on the lower leg.
Anime-style Rain card tattoo on a lower leg
Flash sheet of black brush-style kanji characters, each with a small red English translation printed beneath it.
Kanji character flash sheet with translations
Black ink Japanese lettering runs vertically down the centre of a person's bare back, photographed from behind.
Vertical Japanese script down the spine
Black kanji lettering tattooed along the inner forearm in a lettering style, photographed on pale skin with light freckles.
Black kanji lettering on a forearm
Full back Japanese style tattoo of a woman in a patterned robe among chrysanthemums and flames, in black and grey ink, across the upper and mid back.
Japanese back piece with woman and flames
Black flash design of the Japanese kanji for strength above the word STRENGTH in blackletter lettering, on a white background.
Kanji for strength with blackletter lettering
Ink flash sheet with two arm wrestling figures, an anvil, a sketch of question marks and the words Forgot to be human, with splatter marks across the paper.
Arm wrestling figures and anvil flash sheet
Back view of a woman wearing a white cap, with a black linework cherry blossom branch tattoo with red blossoms across her upper back and shoulder.
Blossom branch across upper back
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat with a red lotus and cherry blossoms on an upper arm.
Maneki-neko cat with lotus on upper arm
Back tattoo of a shaded grey cherry blossom tree with pink flowers in front of a pale moon, in a Japanese style, with small stars and a kanji character above and to the left.
Cherry blossom tree and moon across a back
Colour Japanese-style tattoo of a white maneki-neko beckoning cat with cherry blossom, gold coins and a pink lotus, on a forearm.
Maneki-neko and lotus on a forearm
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design showing a tiger and a wolf in tribal linework with swirls, a star and the kanji for love above, shown without any body placement.
Tiger and wolf tribal design with kanji
Woman seen from behind with a colourful Japanese-style phoenix and flower sleeve on her arm and a large tattoo across her thigh.
Japanese phoenix and flower sleeve with thigh tattoo
Black ink bamboo stalks and leaves with Japanese-style calligraphy down the back, extending onto the shoulder, with small red seal stamps.
Bamboo and calligraphy across a back
Flash sheet of tattoo designs photographed on a gift box, including a blue owl, a koi fish, a realistic eye, three BELIEVE lettering designs and a feathered headdress, all shown without a body
Traditional flash sheet with owl, eye and lettering
Flash sheet of hand-drawn designs with a burger, pizza slice, crushed can, pentagram, gemstone and pink Japanese characters, with a pink lettering banner at the top.
Flash sheet with burger, pizza and crushed can
Black kanji character inside a white and blue circle, framed by a red torn-skin effect, tattooed on a man's chest.
Kanji symbol with torn skin on chest
Several wrists meet in a circle showing small black character tattoos, a dragon, and a few coloured cartoon tattoos of a strawberry and a caterpillar.
Matching small wrist tattoos in a circle
White chalk-style kanji character above the lowercase word pain on a black background, drawn as a possible tattoo design.
Chalk kanji with the word pain
Flash sheet of bold black Japanese-style dragons and kanji characters labelled wealth, wisdom and love, with small red accents.
Dragons and kanji flash sheet
Black ink tattoo of a bold kanji character above a small fuzzy black creature with white eyes, on the upper back.
Kanji and soot sprite on upper back
Two views of a Japanese-style tattoo on an upper arm and shoulder, showing grey ninja figures, red ink splashes, kanji characters and a pagoda.
Ninja and pagoda shoulder piece with kanji
Fine line drawing of two nine-tailed foxes with pink-tipped tails beside Japanese characters, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Two nine-tailed foxes in fine line
Colour tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat holding a gold oval with Japanese characters, in a Japanese style on the upper leg.
Maneki-neko lucky cat on the thigh
Red flame-like linework arcs around the kanji 愛 (love) in a tattoo design drawing on a plain white background, with no body part shown.
Red flame lines framing the kanji for love
Flash sheet of 30 small tattoo designs in Japanese style, pairing kanji characters with animals, flowers and symbols such as a rose, tiger, koi carp and dragon, each with an English label.
Kanji and animal tattoo flash sheet
A flash sheet of black brush-style Chinese characters in four rows, each with a small English translation beneath it, shown without any body placement.
Chinese character flash sheet in black ink
Full-colour Japanese style dragon design with green scales, red fins and clouds on black, shown as a flash drawing with no body placement visible.
Green and red dragon design with wind chime
Colour tattoo of Hello Kitty in a red kimono holding a fan, surrounded by pink cherry blossoms and black Japanese characters, on an upper arm.
Hello Kitty in kimono with cherry blossom on upper arm
Two black brush-style kanji characters stacked vertically, with the English labels True and Love beneath them, shown as a flash design in Japanese style.
Kanji for true and love
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a multi-tiered bathhouse with a red arched bridge and pine tree on the upper arm.
Japanese bathhouse on upper arm
Colour tattoo of a snarling tiger with bamboo leaves and clouds in a Japanese style on a forearm.
Snarling tiger with bamboo on forearm
Flash sheet of black kanji characters in a brush script style, each labelled with its English meaning such as beauty, courage, love and star, with no body placement shown.
Kanji flash sheet with English meanings
Black linework alchemy transmutation circle with three kanji characters above it, tattooed on a forearm in a geometric style.
Alchemy circle and kanji on a forearm
Black and grey Japanese dragon tattoo with clouds and kanji covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Japanese dragon on upper arm