Honour (Samurai Virtue) In Japanese Kanji Symbol For Tattoo

Purchase

‘Honour/honor’ in a Japanese Kanji Symbol (名誉 reads Meiyo) for tattoo is available for instant download. This word is one of the 7 virtues of Bushido (武士道: The Way of Warriors/Samurai’s code of conduct). It is simple yet has a powerful and deep meaning highly regarded by Samurai warriors. The symbol is available in 3 different writing styles for your preference. verified by a native Japanese speaker, your favourite tattoo artist DOES NOT need to know any Japanese.

Japanese Symbol for Honour tattoo on Forearm — Style 3

Japanese Kanji Symbol For Honour Tattoo on Arm — Style 1

What is Kanji ?

Kanji is one of the 3 Japanese writing systems. It is a set of symbols that represent words or concepts.

You might have seen those asian hanging scrolls with some calligraphy letters on it like these. They represent themes, values, resolutions, ambitions, and convictions.

Kanji on a hanging scroll — Tea ceremony room

Houner in Japanese Kanji Symbols and its deep meaning to Samurai

The feeling or sense of hour, which is a striking consciousness of dignity and worth, characterise Samurai. Any infringement on these dignity and worth was felt as shame. This feeling of shame was used to correct behaviour since their childhood.

Life itself was thought cheap if honour and fame could be attained therewith: hence, whenever a cause presented itself which was considered dearer than life, with utmost serenity and celerity was life laid down

Bushido : The Soul of Japan

No Machine Translations = No More Kanji Fail

Kanji are very tricky scripts and some people end up with wrong/awkward kanji tattoos. Without proper understanding of the Japanese language and writing systems(require the use of 3 different scripts), simply putting together the kanji obtained from Kanji generators might lead to Kanji tattoo fail. Even a celebrity like Ariana Grande got it wrong. (I’m glad she’s got it fixed with the help of her tutor and she’s happy with that Japanese script tattoo)

7 Rings in Japanese is 七つの指輪. Had she consulted a native Japanese speaker, her tattoo would’ve looked like this. #Japaneselettertattoo #Kanjitattoo #Japanesewritingtattoo pic.twitter.com/V5V2tJ1HlV

— Yorozuya.tech (@TechYorozuya) August 21, 2021

For this reason, it is best to consult a native Japanese speaker beforehand whether the kanji actually conveys the meaning you have in mind.

Bushido virtues gone wrong

Bushido codes are one of the most popular Kanji tattoos. You can find many free images for them on the internet. However, it is not uncommon to spot wrong, not properly written and even severe lack of important kanji, and people end up having those wrong symbols on their skin…

These are the correct Kanji symbols for these two.

Next, severe lack of 名 for Honour and 義 for Loyalty.

Honour and Loyalty has 2 kanji but looks like they are compressed into 1 kanji on another image.

Bushido Kanji Tattoo fail — 2 Kanji Symbols compressed into 1 Kanji

To help people get the right kanji and Japanese script tattoos, I started this online store. All letters here at Yorozuya.tech are verified by a native Japanese speaker, and you can download the letters right after purchase.

Instant Download

There is a button to download the file right after checkout and no need to wait for me to send it to you. Then you just simply forward it to your favourite tattoo artist. The letters are 100% accurate and he/she does not need to know any Japanese. The file contains both calligraphy style and line art (Stencil).Stencil is what your tattoo artist must have to ink the tattoo as it serves as the outline to trace the artwork onto your skin.

Horizontal & Vertical Directions

Both horizontal and vertical direction is used in the Japanese wiring and therefore, The file comes with both horizontal and vertical layout for your convenience and preference. Writing starts from left to right for horizontal lines whereas it is top to bottom for vertical lines.

Kanji Tattoo Example vertical Horizontal directions — Letter shown : an example

NOTE : The letters DO NOT NEED TO BE MIRRORED, they should appear just as it appears on the print-out.

PDF or JPG?

As a rule of thumb,

jpg for fingers, behind the ear
pdf for arms, chest, shoulder, and other body parts

Each script approximately fits in a 2cm (0.8inch) x 2cm grid or slightly bigger and, in general, this size is suitable for fingers, the back of the neck and behind the ear tattoo.

kanji tattoo example1 — Letter shown : an example

If you need to make it bigger for arms, chest, and other body parts, please select the pdf as it is illustrator-editable and resize-friendly. Your tattoo artist can make it bigger without the outline getting blurry.

Kanji Tattoo Example pdf benefits — Letter shown : an example

Nevertheless, please check with the example files.

If you are happy with the size of the letters and not do need to make it larger, then the “jpg” will do. But if you think you need to make it bigger or change the layout, positions, colours etc, then select the “pdf” just to be on the safe side as it is fully customisable to your likings. It might also be less work for your tattoo artist and cost less. (Please check with your tattoo artist)

3 different styles

You have 3 writing styles to choose from for this design.

each style gives different impressions and I have summarised in the gallery above.

How to order

Just simply tick your preferred style and hit the ‘purchase’ button. You have 3 writing styles to choose from for this design. Each style gives different impressions. In a nutshell,

Style 1: Elegant, Delicate
Style 2: Chic, Sophisticated
Style 3: Earnest, Sincere