Featured Japanese Artists
- Sapo Boijseauneau – Houston, Texas
- Rhyno – Chicago, Illinois
- Phil Colvin – Atlanta, Georgia
- Jake Shalhoub – Chicago, Illinois
- Chris Ayala – Houston, Texas
- View All Japanese Artists
Here are some of the best Japanese tattoo artists and shops according to our research. If you think we should add anyone to the list or if you see anything that should be edited, contact us by clicking here
Sapo Boijseauneau – Houston, Texas
Rhyno – Chicago, IL
Tattoo Styles
: Traditional Japanese
Nick Caruso – NYC
Phil Colvin – Atlanta, Georgia
Jake Shalhoub – Las Vegas, Nevada
Chris Ayala – Houston, Texas
Ryan Dubya – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sean Perkinson – Oakland, California
Sean Crofoot – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Timpac Cyrus – Sacramento, California
Sapo Boijseauneau – Houston, Texas
Jerry Blades – Miami, Florida
Justin Davis – San Francisco, California
SoloKill – Chicago, Illinois
Jason Sexton – Idaho
Tattoo Styles
: Traditional Japanese, Floral
Josh Wright – Seattle, Washington
Megon Shoreclay – Seattle, Washington
Travis Koenig – Denver, Colorado
Tattoo Styles
: Black & Grey, Color, Custom, Geometric, Japanese, New-Traditional, Oriental, Realistic
Tattoo Profile: I have been creating unique, custom visions to enhance my clients perceptions of themselves in the Denver area since 1998. I focus my tattooing into large scale projects, specifically focusing on decorative tattoos with flowers, leaves, ornaments, animals, skulls, mythological beasts, creatures, gods, and anything with natural and beautiful elements.
Rhett Johnson – Kansas City, Missouri
Shaun Nel – Portland, Oregon
Nate Deal – Lincoln, Nebraska
Donn Davis – New Orleans, Louisiana
Brian David MacNeil – Denmark
Jason Brown – Omaha, Nebraska
Japanese Tattoos have a long history and were actually outlawed in old Japan. Being tattooed was a very secretive practice and those that were getting them generally belonged to criminal factions such as the Yakuza. Traditional Japanese tattooing (also known as irezumi) was and is still somewhat an underground practice. However, the popularity of Japanese style tattoos has grown around the world because of the bold lines, imagery, and meanings behind them. There are some very popular Japanese tattoos including the koi fish, dragons, cherry blossoms, and samurais. Koi fish tattoos are very popular and there are many forms of this tattoo. As one of the most popular symbols for the Japanese, one can understand why they would become a popular tattoo. The koi symbolize courage, success, perseverance, good fortune, and prosperity amongst other things. The legend behind the koi derives from the Dragon Gate legend in which the koi swam up stream to the Dragon Gate and jumped over it. The koi was rewarded by being turned into a dragon.The dragon has many meanings depending on the culture it is from. Dragons are one of the most legendary creatures in mythology. They are part of the culture of Japan, Vietnam, China and many more countries. However, when speaking of the Japanese dragon, they represent balance in life.
Cherry Blossoms are very important symbols in Japanese culture. They bloom in harsh conditions and often show when the snow first starts to melt and only last for a few days before they fall and land in the snow. They represent life itself as the Cherry Blossom is beautiful, strong, and can be fragile all at the same time. Finally, the samurai once lived by the code of Bushido. In short, the code of Bushido represents living life to the fullest, being ready to die in service, and being strong and loyal. The best way to represent these values is by having a samurai tattoo.Japanese tattoos continue to get more and more popular as the years go by. Why? Well, it’s because there is a huge selection of designs to choose from and people all over the world love them. These tattoos range from simple, small tattoo to the large, extremely complex Japanese tattoos.
If you are thinking about getting a Japanese tattoo, take a look at the information below to make sure that you get the best one for your tastes. Japanese style tattoos are quite versatile and can incorporate designs that can work for anyone. From dragons to flowers, there are a great number of Japanese images that can comprise a fantastic, meaningful tattoo. And that’s the part of choosing a Japanese tattoo that is the most important: knowing the meanings for each of them. Often one Japanese tattoo can hold three or four meanings even if it is a single image. Sometimes there are multiple images in the tat, giving even more meaning to the overall design. It is vital that you know what each Japanese tattoo design means before you pick one so you can be happy with the tattoo for the rest of your life. Tattoo designs in Japan are greatly influenced by woodblock prints (or ukiyoe) that were found in novels. The heroes portrayed on these woodblock designs were often shown with elaborate tattoos. Sometimes people just want the tattoos that they saw in those images, while others decide to get the entire image tattooed on their bodies. What’s unique about these tattoo designs when compared to other popular tattoos is that you can not only take some meaning from the ukiyoe images themselves, but also from the tattoos within those images.
The first Japanese tattoo designs can be traced back as far as 5,000 years. Figurines recovered from tombs would have marks and lines to indicate social rank as well as to protect them from evil spirits. The tattoos actually rank pretty high in the “ward off evil” category, even outside of Japan. All of these Japanese tattoo meanings are just as prevalent today as they were centuries ago, plus they make people feel like they have a connection to those people. Tattoo artists in Japan were considered to be highly skilled and had to undergo a rigorous apprenticeship where they lived with the master for upwards of 5 years. Part of this apprenticeship was to develop a complete understanding of the meanings of the traditional tattoo designs. This is why all of the most popular tattoo designs that come from Japan have multiple meanings already attached to them. It makes it very easy for people to research those Japanese tattoo meanings so they can be sure they are the right designs for them. For a period of time tattoos were taboo in Japan and became associated with criminals and social outcasts. Towards the end of the 17th century, this stigma began to lift and decorative tattooing began to emerge.
In modern day Japan, displaying one’s tattoos is still generally disapproved of, but this is beginning to change with the latest generation of Japanese youngsters. On top of that, the most popular designs in Japan have made it out west to people who love the techniques used and the overall look of the tattoos. Traditional Japanese tattoo design elements are typically paired together- such as the dragon and phoenix or lions and flowers. This is done as a way to balance beauty and power. Obviously many people around the world love these meanings, which is why you will even see Americans with these types of designs on them today. Kanji characters are also usually incorporated into the designs with meanings that are of great meaning to the wearer. Kanji, which are one of three scripts that make up the Japanese language, are actually Chinese characters that were introduced to Japan in 500 A.D. These symbols each carry their own meaning, such as love, wealth, sadness, loyalty or beauty. In the West, you will not find a more common Japanese tattoo than the Kanji tattoo.
They often look better than simply writing out the words in English or another language, and they look just as good written vertically as they do horizontally. If opting for one of these characters it is imperative that you and your artist research the meaning and verify that the one you chose means what you wish to convey. There are charts you can check out to verify each symbol. This will also allow you to choose multiple words so you can add as much meaning to it as possible. As you can see, there is a lot to think about when choosing a Japanese tattoo. You’ll want to decide if you want to get a classic Japanese tattoo design or if you want to get a more modern tattoo that incorporates Japanese imagery. You will also want to think about the size that you will want because often certain Japanese tattoos fit better on one part of the body over the others.