TATTOOS in JAPANESE

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Learning the Basics

"It is very unique and even peculiar sometimes"

What is the best way?

The

written Japanese language consists of combination of different types of symbols called, Kanji 漢字, Hiragana 平仮名, Katakana 片仮名.

（今日友人のアーティストにタトゥを彫ってもらった。 | My friend who is an artist gave me a tattoo today.）

It is very unique and even peculiar sometimes and is very different from any other Asian languages. Additionally, there are many words that have the same pronunciation but have quite a different meaning. Because of that, it can often be too complicated for foreign people to be able use it properly.

（日 a day | 火 a fire | 飛 flying | 肥 fat | 碑 a gravestone | Every pronnunciation is "Hi".）

In this section, I will show you the Basics of Japanese for those of you who want to use it for a tattoo. You WON'T come to be able to speak Japanese just by simply reading what I have written here, but I hope you will learn something new and begin to understand the atmosphere of the beautiful and complex Japanese language. In the end, I think it might help you to think of and decide on a certain word that you might want to use as a tattoo.

NOTE A : Across 1946, Japanese was changed totally by Japan government without a enough discussion (Omit details). Common Kanji was changed to be more simple, Hiragana and Katakana were changed to a writing along with(?) pronunciation (Phonogram). I don't know that happening was good or not, But I respect the origin. So in this site, I will call that the Japanese before 1946 is "the Original", and the Japanese after 1946 is "the Modern".

NOTE B : As same as your coutry, each Japanese has each expression for the same meaning. In literary style and in colloquial style are much different. We Japanese has an compliceted honorific, we use a different expression when you speak to a friend, a younger person, a older person, a stranger, a public,

• Basic 1 : Tips on Construction
• There are 2 big ways in your choice. One of them is the way to use one or a couple of word, a pair of kanji. Another one is the way to use a sentence, or sentences. Here are example of the former. (Read More)
• Basic 2 : Hiragana
• Hiragana is a letter that is a foundation of Japanese. We Japanese begin studying it at first when we are a kid. Every Kanji can be re-write in Hiragana, an illustrated book for a little child is written by only Hiragana. (Read More)
• Basic 3 : Katakana
• Almost everything about Katakana is the same as Hiragana. There is the same number of symbols and each have the same pronunciation. However, the one difference between the two is the actual shape of each figure. In contrast to Hiragana, Katakana is used as a kind of spice. Here are common cases. (Read More)
• Basic 4 : Kanji
• A type, a pronunciation, a number of Katakana is quite as same (not less, not more) as Hiragana, only the figure is different. In different from Hiragana, Katakana is used as a kind of spice. Here are obvious cases. (Read More)