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Japanese Tattoo Symbols

Japanese tattoo symbols can be made from one of the three Japanese writing systems, hiragana, katakana or kanji.

Hiragana is the writing system that is used for word endings or for parts of a sentence. It may be used to write a name or maybe combined with a kanji character if the tattoo is more than just a word, and it represents a sentence.

Katakana is the writing system used for foreign words including names. If you are looking to make a tattoo symbol using your name, then this is one option. The katakana characters are made out of straight stokes compared to the more rounded strokes of hiragana.

Many Japanese Tattoo symbols are made from the chinese characters called Kanji. These characters range from simple one or two stroke symbols, like strength or power up to characters that may be made up of 20 strokes and be very complex.

Kanji tattoo symbols are very popular as they can express a word or them in just one character. For example some of the most popular characters are relationship symbols such as Love, Family, Desire, Friendship or Loyalty. Some other popular Japanese tattoo symbols made from kanji characters are Peace, Luck, Strength, Heaven and Dream.

Look below for the writing of the popular Japanese tattoo symbols. Click on the character that you like and it will expand and you will be able to save the image if you like.