Japanese tattoo ideas

839 photos and flash · Upper arm most common

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Colour tattoo of a green sea serpent with red eyes and teeth inside a block letter F, framed by blue waves on a red background.
Green sea serpent in a block letter F
Colour tattoo of a white and grey maneki-neko beckoning cat with a red hat, blue collar and bell, framed by red flowers, in a Japanese and neo-traditional style.
Maneki-neko cat with red flowers
Black and grey Japanese style full back tattoo of a helmeted warrior, swirling clouds and a tiger, with a peony on the upper arm.
Full back warrior and tiger piece
Black and grey flash drawing of a Chinese-style dragon coiling on the left and a phoenix with spread wings on the right, with no body placement shown.
Dragon and phoenix tattoo design
Colour tattoo of a kokeshi-style doll in a red kimono surrounded by pink cherry blossoms, on the upper arm.
Kokeshi doll and cherry blossoms on upper arm
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of folding fans with wave patterns covering the upper arm of a man in a grey top.
Folding fans and waves on an upper arm
Black and grey Japanese style dragon and phoenix tattoo covering the full back, with the dragon coiling over the right shoulder and the phoenix spreading its wings on the left.
Dragon and phoenix across a back
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a noodle bowl with chopsticks and green garnish on a forearm, partly covered by a paracord bracelet with a metal clasp.
Noodle bowl tattoo on a forearm
Colourful Japanese style tattoo of Hello Kitty, My Melody and Badtz-Maru on lotus flowers with cherry blossoms and wind swirls, across an upper arm and shoulder.
Sanrio characters and lotus flowers on an upper arm
Black and grey phoenix tattoo with spread wings and a long flowing tail across a bare back, in a Japanese-influenced style.
Phoenix tattoo across a woman's back
Two colour Japanese oni mask tattoos on the backs of hands, one green and one red, edged with gold swirling clouds.
Twin oni masks on the backs of hands
Japanese style koi fish with orange flowers and waves covering the upper arm and shoulder, shown in two side-by-side photos.
Koi fish and flowers on upper arm and shoulder
Torso and both arms covered in a Japanese style tattoo of an eagle, cherry blossoms, clouds and koi in black, grey, pink and yellow ink.
Full body Japanese tattoo with eagle and cherry blossoms
Black ink tattoo on the side of the body showing a crescent moon with clouds, sun rays and a wave, in fine line and stippled dotwork.
Moon, sun and wave on the side
Black and grey cherry blossoms and falling petals run down the spine, with a shaded lotus and pink water lines at the lower back, in a Japanese style.
Cherry blossom trail and lotus on a back
Black and grey engraved-style tattoo of mountains framed by curling waves and rays of light, covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Waves and mountains on an upper arm
Colour tattoo of a cherry blossom tree in a Japanese style with black branches, grey wash trunk and pink blossoms, running down the side of the ribs.
Cherry blossom tree on the ribs
Black line drawing of a Japanese shishi lion with peonies and swirling waves, styled as a tattoo design on paper, with no body placement shown.
Japanese shishi lion with peonies and waves
Colour Japanese sleeve tattoo on an upper arm and shoulder, with orange flames, a pink flower, a purple bloom and green scales.
Japanese flames and flowers on an upper arm sleeve
Black and white line drawing of a swallow in flight with cherry blossoms and falling petals, shown as a tattoo design rather than on skin.
Swallow and cherry blossom design
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a tiger and pink lotus flower with blue waves on the outer thigh of a woman's leg.
Tiger and lotus on a thigh
Black and white photograph of a woman kneeling with her back to the camera, showing a Japanese-style dragon and cloud tattoo across her back and upper arm while she raises a katana overhead.
Japanese back tattoo with raised katana
Three views of a black and grey leg sleeve with a large peony at the thigh and dotwork mandala patterns running down the calf to the ankle and foot.
Black and grey peony and mandala leg sleeve
Colour tattoo of purple and red chrysanthemums with green leaves and grey shading across an upper arm and shoulder, with a real butterfly resting on the flowers.
Purple chrysanthemum tattoo on upper arm
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
Black and grey circular tattoo of a curling wave with dotwork shading, on a forearm.
Hokusai-style wave in a circle on a forearm
Black and grey pencil drawing of a Japanese-style dragon design with a spiked mane, scaled body and clawed foot, shown as a flash sketch.
Dragon design with spiked mane and claws
Large Japanese style dragon tattoo covering a person's back, with grey scales, red accents and black clouds.
Japanese dragon across a full back
Fine line black tattoo of a curling wave inside a circle on the inner forearm, with stippled dots in the spray.
Wave inside a circle on a forearm
Black ink dragon tattoo in a Japanese style, coiling from the side of the abdomen across the hip and down onto the thigh.
Dragon tattoo wrapping hip and thigh
Black and grey pencil drawing of a geisha with a flowered parasol, a fan and cherry blossom, shown as a tattoo design rather than on skin.
Geisha with parasol and fan
Black and grey realism tattoo of a geisha holding an open parasol with ink splash details, covering a person's full back, with small red accents.
Geisha with parasol across a full back
Back tattoo in black and grey shading, showing a large skull surrounded by outlined roses and swirling clouds, in a Japanese-influenced style, across the upper and mid back.
Back piece with skull and roses in black and grey
Small blue wave tattoo with white highlights in a Japanese-influenced style, placed on the upper back between the shoulder blades.
Blue wave on upper back
Black and grey Japanese-style tattoo of cats among peony and leaf linework across a thigh, shown beside a line drawing of the same design.
Cats and peonies on a thigh
Colour Japanese style tattoo on an upper arm showing a crane in flight, a red sun, grey clouds, waves and orange and red maple leaves.
Crane, red sun and clouds on an upper arm
Black and grey Japanese style sleeve tattoo on a forearm, showing a foo dog, an oni mask, a skull, a pagoda and swirling clouds.
Japanese sleeve with lion, oni and pagoda
Japanese style dragon with cherry blossoms and grey smoke tattooed across the top of a foot and up the ankle.
Dragon and cherry blossoms on a foot
Full back tattoo in colour showing a white cat with pink ears, blue and red roses, daisies and skulls, in a Japanese-influenced style.
Cat, roses and skulls across a back
Large realism tattoo on a person's back showing a woman's face framed by a feathered wing, red cherry blossom, lotus flowers and Japanese-style waves.
Realist woman portrait with lotus on a back
Japanese-style wave tattoo with pale outlines over solid black ink, running along a forearm.
Stylised waves on a forearm
Black and grey dragon tattoo with a detailed head and scaled body wrapping from the hip down the outer thigh.
Dragon tattoo across hip and thigh
Colour traditional-style tattoo of a grey tabby and an orange cat curled together inside a circle on the upper arm.
Two cats curled in a circle on upper arm
Colour tattoo of Hello Kitty posed like a maneki-neko lucky cat, with a red bow, red flowers and a gold coin, on a forearm.
Hello Kitty as a lucky cat on a forearm
Two black and grey fine line tattoos inside outlined triangles on the lower leg: a Hokusai-style wave on the left and pine trees with birds on the right.
Wave and pine trees in triangles on lower legs
Black and grey wave tattoo with curling crest inside an inverted triangle outline on the inner forearm, in a Japanese-inspired style.
Wave inside an inverted triangle on a forearm
Woman seen from behind with a black and pink cherry blossom branch tattoo running down her back in a Japanese-inspired botanical style, placed on the back.
Cherry blossom branch across a back
Japanese style tattoo on an upper arm and shoulder, showing pink cherry blossoms, a shaded pocket watch and a skull over dark swirling shapes.
Sakura, pocket watch and skull on upper arm