Japanese tattoo ideas

839 photos and flash · Upper arm most common

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Full back tattoo in a Japanese style showing a large red and brown owl beside cherry blossom branches and a pale moon, with a green bird sleeve on the upper arm.
Owl, cherry blossom and moon back piece
Full back tattoo in Japanese style showing a geisha in an orange kimono beside pink lotus flowers and green lily pads, with arm sleeves visible.
Full back piece with geisha and lotus flowers
Back view of a shaved-headed man with a realistic red-mouthed snake tattoo across his back, with colourful floral and grey Japanese-style sleeves on both arms.
Realistic snake across a full back tattoo
Close-up of a Japanese style tattoo on a back and upper arm, showing a red and yellow serpent with a dark scaled head and orange eye among black and grey waves.
Japanese serpent and waves across back and arm
Back of a person in a white bikini bottom showing a large Japanese style peacock and orange chrysanthemum tattoo across the lower back.
Peacock and chrysanthemum on lower back
Realistic grey and pink tattoo of a geisha in a kimono with cherry blossom branches, covering the upper back.
Geisha portrait with cherry blossom on a back
Colour tattoo of blue, purple, red and pink peonies with green leaves running down a person's back, placed on the back.
Peony sequence across a back
Black and white photo of a shirtless man kneeling on a bed with his back to the camera, showing a large tiger tattoo across his back and a tattooed upper arm.
Tiger tattoo across a man's back and arm
Two people shown from behind with full body Japanese-style tattoos, the left in black and grey with a dragon and bird, the right in colour with a warrior figure and peonies.
Full body Japanese tattoos seen from behind
Back tattoo of a seated samurai holding two swords within a black ink ensō circle and a red brushstroke, in a watercolour-style trash polka style across the upper back.
Seated samurai with enso circle on a back
Back view of a man with a red and black Japanese-style dragon on his left shoulder and upper back, and a black spine tattoo running down the centre.
Red dragon and black spine across a back
Full back tattoo of a snake coiled around a skull with waves and clouds, in grey shading with small orange accents, placed across the back.
Snake and skull full back piece
Painted Japanese style design of a green snake coiling around pink and yellow lotus flowers over dark swirling clouds, shown on a flat back torso cutout.
Snake and lotus back design on a painted torso
Full back tattoo of a red and gold phoenix with flowing feathers and peacock eye details, in Japanese style, covering the back.
Full back phoenix tattoo in red and gold
Black and grey dragon tattoo running down the back of a person with a raised arm, in Japanese style, with a branch-like tattoo on the upper arm.
Black and grey dragon across a back
Colour tattoo of a kokeshi-style doll in a blue kimono with cherry blossom branches and a banner reading FOR YOU ANYTHING, on a person's upper back.
Kokeshi doll and cherry blossom on a shoulder blade
Blue and turquoise wave tattoo inside a black outlined circle, centred on a person's back.
Blue wave in a circle on the back
Colour Japanese style tattoo of an orange koi fish with a pink lotus, pink cherry blossoms and blue waves across the upper back.
Orange koi with lotus and cherry blossom on a back
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 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
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
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 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
Large Japanese style dragon tattoo covering a person's back, with grey scales, red accents and black clouds.
Japanese dragon across a full back
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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 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 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
Black branch tattoo with pink cherry blossoms running diagonally across a bare back, in a botanical Japanese style.
Cherry blossom branch across a back
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
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