Japanese tattoo ideas

839 photos and flash · Upper arm most common

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Black and grey Buddha face tattoo covering a person's back, with clouds, two praying monks and cloud work extending onto the upper arms.
Buddha face and monks across a back
Black and grey swallow tattoo with cloud-like patterned fills on the side of the ribs, with a coloured sleeve tattoo partly visible at the left edge.
Swallow tattoo on the ribs
Black line drawing of a stylised animal leaping beside a blossom branch and curling cloud shapes, in a Japanese-influenced flash style.
Stylised animal with blossom branch
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
Colour drawing of a silver Japanese-style dragon with orange flame accents, coiling through blue stylised waves, as a tattoo design.
Silver dragon with blue waves and orange flames
Black and grey sketch-style tattoo of two koi fish curled into a circle on the side of a person's ribs.
Two koi fish in a circle on the ribs
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
Small black and grey fine line tattoo of a curling wave inside a circle on the inner forearm, in a Japanese woodcut style.
Wave in a circle on a forearm
Red-brown line drawing of a Japanese dragon coiling through wisps of cloud, with cherry blossoms, as a tattoo design sketch.
Japanese dragon with cherry blossoms
Flash design of a scowling blue daruma-style mask with crossed swords behind it and the script lettering Read Between The Lines above, with no placement on the body shown.
Angry blue daruma mask with crossed swords
Black and grey Japanese style flash design of a coiling dragon with lily-like flowers and cloud motifs on a white background.
Black and grey dragon with flowers and clouds
Colour tattoo on a calf of a black cat wrapped with pink peonies, green leaves and a white snake, in a Japanese-inspired neo-traditional style.
Black cat with peonies and snake on a calf
Colour Japanese style full back tattoo design showing a pig-headed figure in a patterned robe, surrounded by orange flames, clouds and a snake.
Pig-headed figure in flames, Japanese back design
Black and grey Japanese style phoenix tattoo covering a man's upper arm and shoulder, with feathers and wisps of cloud, shown in two photos.
Phoenix full sleeve in black and grey
Colour tattoo of a blue sea serpent with green horns and an orange fish among green seaweed, in a Japanese-inspired style, on a calf.
Blue sea serpent and orange fish on a calf
Black and gold koi fish drawn in a Japanese style with white scale outlines and red gills, beside the headline The Meaning Behind Koi Fish Tattoos, with no body part shown.
Black and gold koi fish tattoo design
Black and grey Japanese-style dragon tattoo covering a person's back, with a coiling body, clawed feet and wispy cloud-like smoke.
Black and grey dragon across a back
Full back tattoo of an ornate colourful skull surrounded by clouds, beads and red peony flowers, in a neo-traditional style on a bare back.
Ornate colourful skull full back piece
Full arm sleeve tattoo in Japanese style showing a blue-green scaled serpent, red flames and dragon heads, shown from three angles.
Full sleeve with dragons and serpent in Japanese style
Pencil sketch of a geisha with cherry blossom, clouds and a koi fish in Japanese style, drawn on pink paper as a tattoo design.
Geisha with koi and cherry blossom sketch
Black line drawing on translucent paper of two chrysanthemums, cherry blossom sprigs and loose petals in a Japanese botanical flash style.
Chrysanthemum and cherry blossom flash sheet
Black branch tattoo with pink cherry blossoms running diagonally across a bare back, in a botanical Japanese style.
Cherry blossom branch across a back
Black and grey Japanese-style peony tattoo with dotwork shading and leaves, sitting on the upper arm and shoulder.
Black and grey peony on upper arm
Pencil drawing of a tattoo design showing two shaded koi fish within black tribal-style lines, with flowers and swirls, in black and grey.
Koi fish and flower tattoo design
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
Japanese-style chrysanthemum sleeve in red and black dotwork covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Red chrysanthemum sleeve on upper arm
Black linework tattoo of a figure with a hair bun holding a sunburst parasol and a flowing sash, in a Japanese-inspired style, on the upper arm.
Parasol-holding figure on upper arm
Five views of a colourful full sleeve tattoo in neo-traditional and Japanese-inspired style, showing birds, swirling clouds and rays across the upper arm and forearm.
Colourful bird and cloud full sleeve
Black and grey Japanese-style tattoo of a wolf with swirling clouds on the upper arm and shoulder, shown from two angles.
Wolf and swirling clouds on upper arm
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
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of an oni mask with lotus flowers, waves and chrysanthemums covering the shoulder and upper arm.
Oni mask and lotus flowers on a shoulder and arm
Green dragon tattoo with black outlines and shaded scales on the side of a hip and waist.
Green dragon on a hip
Two photographs on a magazine page show a bare male torso with a black and grey Japanese style tiger with red accents on the ribs and a dragon and cloud sleeve on the upper arm.
Japanese tiger and dragon sleeve on torso
Photo of a Japanese style tattoo of two cranes in flight with black swirling linework across a man's shoulder and upper chest.
Two cranes and swirls on shoulder and chest
Colour tattoo of a cherry blossom branch with pink flowers and grey shaded leaves and stems, wrapping across a limb.
Cherry blossom branch on a limb
Large LOVE letters filled with pink cherry blossoms, petals and grey Japanese-style clouds on a light grey background.
LOVE letters with cherry blossom design
Black and grey Japanese style phoenix tattoo with scrolls and clouds running down a woman's leg from thigh to calf, photographed from behind.
Japanese style phoenix leg sleeve
Black and grey line drawing of a coiling Eastern dragon with a flaming pearl, shown as a tattoo design on paper with no body placement.
Eastern dragon with a flaming pearl
Colour tattoo of two orange and red koi fish curving into a circle around a black Pisces symbol, on a person's calf.
Two koi fish with a Pisces symbol on a calf
Black and grey tattoo on an upper arm showing a tentacled creature head beneath a full moon and stars, with swirling waves below.
Tentacled creature, moon and waves on upper arm
Black and grey Japanese style full sleeve tattoo on an upper arm and forearm, showing armour plates, a scale pattern and swirling shapes.
Japanese armour sleeve on an arm
Upper arm tattoo of a geisha holding a folding fan beside a dragon, in grey shading with red accents, Japanese style.
Geisha with fan and dragon on upper arm
Japanese style koi tattoo in a yin yang circle, with one fish in orange and one in black and grey, on smooth skin.
Orange and black koi in a yin yang circle
Flash drawing of stylised blue Japanese-style clouds with a pink bullet shape, shown on a plain white background with no body placement.
Blue clouds and pink bullet flash design
Close-up of a colourful Japanese style lion dog tattoo with turquoise body, orange dots, gold swirling mane and green eyes on skin.
Turquoise and gold lion dog tattoo
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a black and white cat with red and gold shide streamers and grey clouds, placed on the outer thigh.
Cat with shide streamers and clouds on a thigh
Full colour back piece of a peacock in flight with peacock feather eyes and pink magnolia blossoms, shown across the back and lower back.
Peacock and magnolia back piece
Full body Japanese style tattoo with dragons, chrysanthemums and clouds across the chest, arms and thighs of a man in white briefs.
Full body Japanese irezumi with dragons and chrysanthemums