Okay, so I decided I wanted a Japanese quote tattoo. Sounds cool, right? But man, it wasn’t just walking into a shop and pointing at a wall.
Figuring Out What to Say
First thing, I had to figure out what quote. I spent ages, like, literally weeks, digging around. Looked through books, searched online, asked friends if they knew any cool sayings. You want something meaningful, you know? Not just random characters. I thought about stuff like “perseverance” or “live laugh love” but in Japanese, but that felt kinda cheesy. Finally landed on one that felt right, something about inner strength, kind of resonated with some stuff I’d been through.
Getting the Translation Right (Super Important!)
This part stressed me out the most. You hear horror stories, right? People thinking they got “courage” tattooed and it actually means “toilet water” or something dumb. No way I was letting that happen.
- I first tried online translators. Big mistake. Got like five different versions. Useless.
- Then I asked a friend who studied Japanese years ago. They weren’t super confident for something permanent. Fair enough.
- Ended up finding this forum online, people recommended a specific translation service, like actual human beings doing it. Cost a bit, but hey, better than messing it up. Sent them the English quote, they sent back the Kanji and Hiragana, explained the nuances. Felt much better after that.
Checked it again with another source, just to be paranoid. Looked legit.
Finding Someone to Actually Do It
Next hurdle: the artist. Not every tattoo artist is comfortable or skilled with Japanese characters. The strokes gotta be right, the balance, all that stuff. I didn’t want it looking like a kid drew it.
So I started looking at local shops. Checked out their portfolios online first. Lots of cool stuff, but not much Kanji work. Visited a couple places. One guy seemed kinda shaky about it, kept saying “yeah, yeah, I can do that,” but didn’t seem convincing. Another shop had an artist who specialized more in traditional Japanese style, but mostly big pieces like dragons and stuff, not really script.
Finally found this woman through a recommendation. Her portfolio had some really clean character work. Went for a consultation. She actually knew a bit about the calligraphy aspect, talked about brush strokes even though it’s with a needle. We discussed placement, size, flow on the arm. She printed out the verified translation I brought, we tweaked the size a bit. Booked the appointment. Felt good about this choice.
The Day It Happened
Appointment day came. Got the stencil put on. Looked good in the mirror. Checked the characters against my verified printout like ten times. Paranoid, I know. Then, the buzzing started. Honestly, wasn’t too bad pain-wise, just that constant vibration. Took a couple of hours. Watched her work in the mirror sometimes. She was super focused.
Now It’s Part of Me
And yeah, now it’s there. Healed up nice. I look at it sometimes, remember the whole process. Choosing the words, making damn sure they were right, finding the right person. It’s not just some random ink; it’s that whole journey, you know? Glad I took the time to do it properly. Still don’t speak Japanese, but at least I’m pretty sure my arm doesn’t say “noodle soup”.
