Lotus flowers are amazing and have strong symbolic ties to many Asian religions especially throughout India. The lotus flower starts as a small flower down at the bottom of a pond in the mud and muck. It slowly grows up towards the waters surface continually moving towards the light. Once it come to the surface of the water the lotus flower begins to blossom and turn into a beautiful flower.

Within Hinduism and Buddhism the lotus flower has become a symbol for awakening to the spiritual reality of life. The meaning varies slightly between the two religions of course but essentially both religious traditions place importance on the lotus flower.

In modern times the meaning of a lotus flower tattoo ties into it’s religious symbolism and meaning. Most tattoo enthusiast feel that the a lotus tattoo represent life in general. As the lotus flower grows up from the mud into a object of great beauty people also grow and change into something more beautiful (hopefully!). So the symbol represent the struggle of life at its most basic form.

Lotus flower tattoos are also popular for people who have gone through a hard time and are now coming out of it. Like the flower they have been at the bottom in the muddy, yucky dirty bottom of the pond but have risen above this to display an object of beauty or al ife of beauty as the case might be. Thus a lotus flower tattoo or blossom can also represent a hard time in life that has been overcome.

Lotus flower and peonies are also two flowers that are very popular among Japanese tattoo artists and they make a great compliment to Koi Fish tattoos. Ironically enough the two koi fish and lotus flowers can often be found in the same pond in front of a temple. The Koi fish is a symbol typically for strength and individualism.

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Tags: black, blossom, design, flower, galleries, ideas, lotus, lotus flower tattoos lotus, meaningblack, blossom, design, flower, galleries, ideas, lotus, lotus flower tattoos lotus, meaning

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Thinking of getting a kanji tattoo or kanji jewelry? Then arm yourself with this information before you buy anything. It may be the difference between being cool and national humiliation.

What? National humiliation? Well OK, national humiliation is an unlikely outcome, but an article in the March 1st, 2005 Washington Post Express shows that the possibility is there. “Lost in Translation” looked at the real dangers facing the unwary consumers who get kanji tattoos.

I am not joking when I say “real dangers”. But neither am I referring to unhygenic tattooing practices. What I am talking about is toe-curlingly appalling linguistic blunders. Specifically, I mean kanji combinations like these:

- Extremely Military Affairs Stopping
- Crazy Diarrhea
- Weird (tattooed on one B. Spears)

Yes, these are phrases that real people (yes, Britney Spears is a real person) actually have had tattooed into their skin.

To be honest, I am not entirely surprised at these and other errors. After all, I have seen many reversed images of kanji being offered for tattoos, and kanji jewelry that simply did not mean anything like it was supposed to.

One necklace, I remember, had the kanji for “road” on it - although the poor owner had been told it meant love. I guess her love hit the road and didn’t come back no more, no more, no more, no more….

As Tian Tang puts it in the Post:

“People ask, ‘I got the tattoo, can you tell me what this means? And I’m like, ‘Why didn’t you do this before you got that tattoo?’”

Yes, you would think that would be the obvious thing to do - especially if you are getting something permanent like a kanji tattoo. So how can you make sure you don’t end up a national laughingstock?

First of all, make sure you know something about the Japanese language. Check out the copious information at sites like japanese.about.com and in five minutes you will know more about kanji, hiragana and katakana than most of the people already walking around with it tattooed into their skin.

Next, remember that there is often no such thing as an exact translation. Basic nouns are one thing - a table is a table is a table, after all. But abstract concepts, like Semper Fidelis (the motto of the US Marine Corps), can be notoriously difficult to translate well.

Once you have grasped this background material, you are ready to meet with the tattoo artist. That’s right - meet. Don’t get anything done yet. At first you just want to talk. Specifically, you want to find out how familiar he or she is with the issues mentioned above. If after an hour or so on the internet you know more about Japanese than your tattoo artist, then you need to be very careful about kanji she suggests.

So what can you do if your tattoo artist doesn’t know his kanji from his katakana? How do you go about getting the kanji yourself?

Well if you are confident in your new-found kanji knowledge, then there are a number of online dictionaries that can help.

Otherwise I would recommend getting a translation from - Japanese-Name-Translation.com A good translator will be able to offer you a number of different options as well as explaining the exact meaning and pronunciation of the different kanji. They should also be able to offer you a number of different styles, from basic kanji calligraphy fonts to genuine Japanese shodo calligraphy.

At the end of the day, how you decide to go about getting your kanji tattoo is up to you. Just remember that preparation is the key to making sure your kanji tattoo doesn’t get “Lost in Translation”.

About the Author

Stephen Munday lives in Japan. He works for Provide Cars, who buy cars at japanese car auctions and sell them to japanese car importers around the world. This article is (c) Stephen Munday 2005. Permission is given to reproduce this article in whole with the URLs correctly hyperlinked.

Tags: japanese tattoo, japanese translation, kanji tattoos, kanji translation, tattoo advicejapanese tattoo, japanese translation, kanji tattoos, kanji translation, tattoo advice

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The other day I met a gentleman who had so many tattoos that you couldn’t even tell which color he was. I assume he was a white guy underneath all the colorful tattoos. He looked kind of scary but he was such a nice guy we talked for about two hours about all kinds of stuff.

He did not obviously follow the social norm, but this probably allowed him to think outside the box and we had a conversation that was very long and traveled through many subjects such as technology, sociology, vibrational energy and the future of space travel. This gentleman was no dummy.

While we were talking someone came up to him and asked why he had so many tattoos and he turned around and said one of the most funniest things I’ve ever heard of; he said why are you epidermically challenged? I had never heard that term before, but he said he had got it from a friend of his to does tattoos in Wyoming and has a permanent banner in front of his tattoo parlors which says; Are You Dermigraphically Challenged?

Apparently he had modified the saying and after he said it I almost choked on my venti Mocha Frappachino. I had a great laugh at the expense of the person who asked the dumb question. We both laughed and my question to you is are you currently dermigraphically challenged? Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Tags: Are You Epidermically Challenged, No TattoosAre You Epidermically Challenged, No Tattoos

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