Chinese Character Japanese Kanji Tattoo Service

Starting at: $20.00


Free Sample Chinese/Japanese Tattoo Templates:

Bushido - Way of the Warrior
Dragon
Love
Peace / Harmony
Aikido Tattoo
Faith

These free samples will show you how the tattoo templates work. Your custom page will be in the same format but with your special word or phrase.

dragon symbol

Chinese or Japanese Symbols Tattoo Service

Don't end up with meaningless or fake Chinese characters on your body!

Free Japanese/Chinese Dragon Symbol Tattoo.

The Asian Tattoo Caveat:

Many people end up with incorrect or meaningless characters. To make matters worse, virtually all flashers in tattoo parlors contain some errors or misrepresentations.

Don't end up with "Big Dumb Pink Dragon" on your arm (unless that's what you want). Plenty of people have sent me pictures of their Asian character tattoos, and many times, I've had to tell them some really bad news about the meaning of their tattoos. There was actually a guy that had a "powerful dragon female" on his neck. Many others thought they were getting "courage" but instead got something that meant "terrible mistake" instead.

To help you avoid tragedy, I've created this Japanese Kanji and Chinese character tattoo service.

Whether you need just one simple character or you want a whole phrase translated, I'll do it for you and output it as large image files in a variety of character styles.

I've been studying Japanese and Chinese for over 19 years, but that's not enough. All tattoo projects are translated and checked by my staff of professional native Japanese or Chinese translators.

Much of the time, single words are written the same in Japanese and Chinese (in fact, they are often the same in old Korean Hanja too). Therefore your tattoo will often be universal in the CJK (Chinese Japanese Korean) world.
However, if this is not the case, I suggest going with the Chinese version since a third of the world's population will be able to natively read your tattoo, while about 1% of the world population is Japanese.

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To Order:

Just enter the word, character, or phrase that you are looking for, the number of English words, and the target language. Click on the "Add to Cart" button and checkout.

After that, I may email back and forth with you a little if your phrase is complex. I really want to make sure the result is accurate. Then, after a day or two, I'll send you a link to a custom web page just for you. From there, you can download and print digital templates of your characters.

To make it simple, this service is priced based on the number of English words that you want to be translated.
It's $20 for the first word, and $5 for each additional word.
Note: You can count compound words like "will-power" or "non-violence" as one. Also, no need to count little articles like "and," "is," "of," "the," etc.

This item was listed or modified
Jun 19th, 2024

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Here are the styles you will have access to:

Character Height:
inches    - OR -    centimeters
Use decimal numbers for non-whole numbers (for 1½ enter 1.5).   Leave blank if you want the maximum size of about 3 inches (7.5cm) per character.


Orientation:
Ancient Vertical (Usually the best choice)
Traditional Horizontal (right-to-left -- opposite of English)
Modern Horizontal (left-to-right -- just like English)

Ancient Seal Script

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These are various forms of seal script, the first style to be widely-used in China around 221 B.C.
In Chinese, this is known as "Zhuanshu". Sometimes referred to simply as Zhuan, or Xiao Zhuan (xiao = small -> "small seal" as opposed to the larger square style). In Japanese, Zhuan is pronounced "Ten" hense "Tensho" in Japanese.

Square Seal Script

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This is a square form of seal script, which is often used for signature stamps or seals.
This script has been in use for thousands of years in China. It's also been used for seals in Japan, Korea, and elsewhere for the past 1500 years or so.
Romanized as "Fang-Zhuanshu" from Chinese. It's just "Tensho" in Japanese.

Stamp Style

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These "stamped-style" characters are between seal script and official script.

These are the impressions typically left by carved stamps made from stone (sometimes called "chops").
Often referred to as "Gu Zhuan" or "stamp seal" in Chinese.

Official Script

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Just after seal script came into existence,this easier-to-write style called official script was adopted. Sometimes this style is also called "prison script" or "clerical script" in English.
It was used by the Emperor's scribes for all legal documents. The "prison script" title comes from the fact that thousands of copies of important declarations were hand-copied by prisoners under the order of the Emperor's court (because no printing presses existed).
Romanized as Lishu from Chinese and Reisho or sometimes Leisho from Japanese.

Printed Regular Script

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These are printed forms of regular script. They're the most widely-used general styles of Chinese Hanzi, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja.
Kaishuprint 1-5 are typical of the styles used to teach school children to write in Asia.
Most Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people will tell you that in printed form, these look very basic, and do not contain the true art of the characters/calligraphy.
However, most tattoos in the west seem to use this kind of printed style. Using a this is the equivalent of getting a tattoo in "Arial" font in English.
Romanized as Kaishu from Chinese and Kaisho from Japanese.

I recently added Kaishuprint 5-9. I recommend Kaishuprint7 and Kaishuprint8 if you like this general printed style.

Calligraphy-Style Regular Script

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These are various written and calligraphic forms of regular script.
These have a bit more artistic styling compared to the plain printed regular script above.

Running Regular Script

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This is a flowing version of regular script known as "Xing-Kaishu" from Chinese. The "Xing" means "running", "flowing", "traveling". This is a slightly cursive style of writing that allows the brush to trail after each stroke so that they are almost connected.
Romanized in a different word-order as "Kai-Gyosho" from Japanese.

Running Script / Cursive Script

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This is running script. This is often referred to as "cursive" in English. This style of writing does not allow for the brush to be lifted very often; Thus the strokes blend together in an almost-continuous trail.
Romanized as Xingshu from Chinese or Gyosho from Japanese.

Note: The differences between this script and "running regular script" are very subtle and subjective. In some cases, we've mixed them up here.

Chaos Cursive Script / Grass Script

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This is sometimes called "chaos-style", "grass script", or some variation of "cursive" in English. This style is under-appreciated by western audiences and is an acquired taste, even for native Asian people. Some love it, some hate it. Even native Chinese can not read it without some hints or clues (unless they are calligraphy experts).
Romanized as Caoshu or Tsaoshu from Chinese and Sosho from Japanese. The literal meaning from Chinese and Japanese is "grass script".

Ming Script - Song Script

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This is often referred to in English as "Ming" style after the "Ming Dynasty" when it became popular and widely used.
This script is actually the result of the first printing press developed in China during the Song Dynasty.
Because each block in the printing press had to be hand-carved from wood, this style was developed to be easier to carve and to flow with the grain of the wood.
Later, during the Ming Dynasty, printing press technology and this style of characters made it across the sea to Japan. Because of the date it was used in Japan, this style was labled "Mintai" or "Mincho" in Japan ("Mintai" would be "Mingti" in Chinese). However, in China this is known as "Songti". Note: "ti" = style or form.

Special Styles

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These are variations of Chinese Hanzi / Japanese Kanji / Korean Hanja that are used for advertising and other special purposes.
The "Stone Carved" and "Saw Tooth" styles are popular for tattoos. The rest offer unique looks and possibilities in case you are seeking something far outside of "normal".

Constant Width - Graphic Pen Style

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This constant-width or "pen style" character is a modern style that is a result of the "computer age". This is made to look a bit high-tech, and it actually computer-generated (nobody writes like this).

Simplified Chinese

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These are Simplified Chinese variations.They are sometimes the same as the Traditional Chinese characters (as shown above), but occasionally, they are quite different.
There was an effort in the 1950's in China, and post-war Japan to simplify characters. The effort was independent between the two countries, so sometimes the simplification was the same and sometimes not. In many cases, Japan did not simplify.
This was in a effort to make the characters easier to write and improve literacy.
However, most Chinese and many Japanese feel that it "took the art, tradition, and ancient nature out of the characters". I do not recommend these for tattoos since your tattoo should be a form of art, and in the case of an Asian tattoo, a form of ancient art. Also, some outside of mainland China refer to these and Communist Characters (which may not put your tattoo in the best light).
Please consult with me before choosing Simplified Chinese for a tattoo!

The following tags are just to help people who are searching for Asian tattoo info to find this page.

Chinese Calligraphy Tattoos

Chinese Scroll Tattoos

Japanese Scroll Tattoos

Tattoo Chinese Calligraphy

Asian Calligraphy Tattoo

Japanese Samurai Tattoo

Japanese Kanji Tattoo Symbols

Japanese Kanji Tattoo Stencils



Starting at: $20.00