Japanese tattoo ideas

839 photos and flash · Upper arm most common

What will it cost? Try the tattoo cost calculator
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
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
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a skull, koi fish and peony flowers with waves across the upper arm.
Skull, koi and peony on the upper arm
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
Black and grey Japanese-style tattoo of a roaring tiger with clouds and flowers across a person's chest and shoulder.
Roaring tiger tattoo on chest and shoulder
Colour tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat with pink blossoms on the upper arm, in a traditional Japanese style.
Maneki-neko lucky cat on upper arm
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a koi fish on the upper arm and a dragon with flowers and waves across the shoulder and chest.
Black and grey koi and dragon shoulder piece
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
Colour Japanese-style phoenix tattoo with clouds and foliage covering a man's shoulder and upper arm, shown in two side-by-side photos.
Phoenix tattoo across shoulder and upper arm
Colour tattoo of a golden koi fish swimming among pink flowers and teal water plants on an upper arm, in a Japanese-influenced neo-traditional style.
Koi fish and flowers on an upper 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 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
Two tattooed people in a Japanese style: a woman with a grey oni mask on her stomach and a man with a full colour sleeve and an oni mask on his chest.
Two people with Japanese style tattoo sleeves and torsos
Colour tattoo of a large pink chrysanthemum with green leaves and grey shading on the upper arm, in a Japanese style.
Pink chrysanthemum with leaves on upper arm
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
Pink cherry blossom branch tattoo with black shaded limbs wrapping around an upper arm, in a Japanese-inspired style.
Cherry blossom branch on upper arm
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
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
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
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 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 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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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