Tattoos in foreign languages are pretty hip, especially if they are in a language with wicked characters that scream manga, samurais, and gomoku all at once. However, those looking to get some Japanese calligraphy under their skin should tread carefully — mishaps such as the misspelling, inverting, omitting, upside-downing, and general grammar-butchering of the language are more common than one might think.
Hailing from Nagano, Japan, Maru is a tattoo artist at Imperial Tattoo and has seen his fair share of unfortunate Japanese tattoos. Armed with a long calligraphy pen, he explains some common mistakes made by tattoo artists who don’t speak Japanese.
Getting lost in translation is a global phenomenon. English tattoos are becoming increasingly popular in Japan — also foreign, also sexy, and also the breeding ground for potential mistakes. Maru himself already had a tattoo in English before he learned the language. Thankfully, his “PAIN IS TEMPORARY” tattoo is free of spelling mistakes.
When certain characters are not drawn close enough to each other, their meanings change. In the picture above, the tattoo on the left means “little sister.” The one on the right, distinguishable only by the space between the characters, reads “female market.”