Japanese tattoo ideas

839 photos and flash · Upper arm most common

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Colour tattoo of two koi fish swimming through teal water beneath pink cherry blossom, across the upper back and shoulder blade.
Koi fish and cherry blossom across a back
Black and grey tattoo of a wide-eyed face wearing a pearl necklace, with a tall feathered shape rising above it, on a calf.
Grey face with pearl necklace on a calf
Black and grey Japanese style tiger tattoo with flowers and a skull across a person's thigh and hip.
Tiger, flowers and skull on a thigh
Pencil sketch of a Japanese-style dragon with claws, whiskers and a scaled body, drawn in blue and red pencil for a tattoo design.
Japanese dragon design in pencil
Black stencil design of two stylised koi fish curving around a circle with three dots between them, in a Japanese style.
Two koi fish in a circle stencil
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo flash of a horned oni skull wearing a hannya mask, surrounded by swirling smoke, with no body placement shown.
Oni skull with hannya mask design
Neo-traditional colour tattoos on both thighs, showing a horned ox in a red harness with yellow peonies on the left and a snarling white wolf with a chrysanthemum on the right.
Horned ox and snarling wolf on thighs
Colour tattoo of a red daruma doll with a scowling face and gold characters, framed by grey Japanese-style waves on the skin.
Daruma doll with grey waves
Japanese style tattoo of a samurai oni mask in a helmet, with cherry blossoms and a golden dragon, across an upper arm and shoulder.
Samurai oni and dragon on upper arm
Back tattoo of pink cherry blossoms with black shading running down the spine, interspersed with black characters, in a Japanese style on the upper and mid back.
Cherry blossom and characters down the back
Full sleeve Japanese-style dragon tattoo in grey and red with red flames, shown on the upper arm and forearm of a shirtless man.
Dragon sleeve with red flames
Back of a woman with dark hair in an updo, showing a Japanese-style tattoo of a grey swallow among red blossom branches on the upper back and shoulder.
Swallow and blossom on upper back
Purple brushstroke enso circle above the script words not all who wander are lost, tattooed on the top of a foot.
Purple enso circle and script quote on a foot
Line drawing of a Japanese-style peony and chrysanthemum design with swirling waves and clouds on a dark background, shown as a tattoo design rather than on skin.
Japanese peony and wave design
Full-colour Japanese-style dragon design in blue and orange with orange flame-like fins, coiled and clawed, shown on a white background.
Coiled dragon design in blue and orange
Colour Japanese-style peony tattoo with red petals, teal centre and green leaves, outlined in black, on an arm.
Red peony with teal centre on an arm
Back view of two matching black and grey Japanese style tattoos on the calves, showing flower and flame motifs with wave lines below.
Matching Japanese flower tattoos on both calves
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
Black and grey photograph of a phoenix tattoo with swirling scrollwork across a woman's lower back and side, shown from behind with long dark hair.
Phoenix tattoo across a back and ribs
Colour Japanese koi fish tattoo with white wave swirls and a white lotus bloom, wrapping the shoulder and upper arm.
Koi fish and lotus on upper arm
Japanese style flash drawing of a green and red dragon coiling over black and grey waves, with a small cartoon figure in a yellow robe beside it.
Green dragon flash with wave background
Woman seen from behind with a full-back Japanese style tattoo of a dragon and waves, extending over the upper arms and thighs.
Full back and leg Japanese dragon tattoo
White line drawing of a whale built from stylised waves on a navy background, with a tiny boat and figures in the sea, drawn as a flash design.
Whale formed from waves and a small boat
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
Colour tattoo of a cartoon unicorn in a patterned kimono with hair sticks, surrounded by pink cherry blossoms, on the side of the torso in a Japanese-influenced style.
Cartoon unicorn in kimono with blossoms
Blue ink tattoo of a long-tailed bird and peony-style flowers running along a forearm, in a Japanese-influenced botanical style.
Blue bird and flowers on an arm
Black and grey lion head with lotus and blossom flowers tattooed on the outer thigh, in a Japanese-influenced style.
Lion and lotus on a thigh
Illustration of a hairless cat with a Japanese style koi fish, waves and clouds tattoo in blue and black, leaning over a pale hairless cat.
Tattooed hairless cat with a koi and waves design
Colour tattoo of a blue-grey and green Eastern-style dragon coiling across a person's upper back, shown in a Japanese style.
Blue and green dragon across a back
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a seated Guanyin holding a lotus, with sunburst rays and clouds, on a forearm.
Seated Guanyin with sunburst on a forearm
Neo-trad tattoo of a black maneki-neko cat with a crescent moon, pentagram, peach flowers and small white cats on a forearm.
Black maneki-neko cat on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a purple peony with teal leaves across the shoulder, outlined in black with shaded petals and a yellow stamen cluster.
Purple peony on the shoulder
Full-colour Japanese style flash drawing of a snarling tiger among bamboo leaves and clouds, with a small frog below, shown without a body placement.
Tiger, bamboo and frog flash design
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
Black and grey Japanese dragon with clouds, maple leaves and a rose across a forearm, shown from three angles.
Japanese dragon and maple sleeve on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a grey maneki-neko cat with a red collar and bell, surrounded by pink cherry blossoms, on the calf.
Maneki-neko cat and cherry blossoms on a calf
A pencil sketch on tracing paper of a horned warrior holding a spear above a second armoured figure, in a Japanese-influenced tattoo design with clouds and a large circle behind.
Horned warrior with spear, tattoo sketch
Black ink drawing of two whale tails rising from stylised waves on white paper, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Two whale tails with waves
Colour tattoo of a grey kaiju monster breathing a blue flame, surrounded by red flames and orange clouds, on the lower leg.
Kaiju monster breathing fire on a calf
Large Japanese style back tattoo of a green dragon and a grey dragon among clouds and cherry blossoms, spanning the upper back and shoulders.
Twin dragons across a back piece
Black and grey flash collage of Totoro-style creatures in ink sketches, with plants, mushrooms, a pair of Chinese characters and an Art Nouveau reclining figure.
Totoro sketches, botanicals and Art Nouveau figures
Red and black plum blossom branch tattoo with a red square seal stamp on the left side of a person's ribs, in a Japanese-influenced botanical style.
Plum blossom branch and seal on ribs
Full back tattoo of a multi-armed goddess wearing a skull garland, set against a red sun disc, with a lotus on the shoulder and a blue sleeve on the arm, in Japanese and neo-traditional style.
Goddess with skulls full back tattoo
Colour Japanese style chest tattoo of a humpback whale surrounded by turquoise waves, with a small seated figure in a red and gold sunburst on the chest.
Humpback whale and waves on a chest
Back view of a woman with a large winged bird tattoo across her upper back and red roses with scrollwork on her lower back, in a Japanese style.
Winged bird and roses across a back
Black outline tattoo of peonies, a chrysanthemum and leaves covering a forearm, in a Japanese-inspired botanical style.
Peony and chrysanthemum forearm design
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
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a ramen bowl with chopsticks, a halved egg and a spiral, with flowers on the bowl, on the calf.
Ramen bowl with chopsticks on a calf