Ikigai (生き甲斐) In Japanese Letters For Simple Word Tattoo. Ideas For Behind The Ear, Fingers, And Neck Tattoo

Ikigai, Simple Yet Meaningful Japanese Word Tattoo.

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means ‘a reason for being’ and the word is a combination of  ‘Iki’ and ‘kai'(gai). ‘Iki’ translates to ‘life’, ‘to live’ and ‘alive’ while ‘gai’ is used to describe ‘value’, ‘worth’ and ‘avail’. So ikigai is all about ‘having/finding joy in life’ which will give you the sense of life being made worthwhile as well as being motivated to live. Psychologist Michiko Kumano describes ikigai as

eudaimonic well-being, as it “entails actions of devoting oneself to pursuits one enjoys and is associated with feelings of accomplishment and fulfillment”

As you can see in the image below, Ikigai stands within the crossover of these four points.

• What you love
• What the world nees
• What you can be paid for
• What you are good at

Reference

Kumano, Michiko (2018-06-01). “On the Concept of Well-Being in Japan: Feeling Shiawase as Hedonic Well-Being and Feeling Ikigai as Eudaimonic Well-Being”. Applied Research in Quality of Life. 13 (2): 419–433

No Machine Translations = No More Kanji Fail

Japanese writing systems require the use of 3 different alphabets; Kanji, hiragana, katakana, and therefore very tricky and it’s not uncommon to see people with wrong/awkward kanji tattoos. 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. To help people get the right Japanese writing 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 download file come with both horizontal and vertical layout for your convenience. Horizontal layout is suitable for your finger/knuckle tattoo and inner bicep tattoo while vertical layout is for arm (tricep, shoulder and sleep) tattoo. (Please see the examples above) It starts from left to right for horizontal lines whereas it is top to bottom for vertical lines.

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

↓Click the image below

PDF or JPG?

As a rule of thumb,

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

Any download files with ‘Knuckle‘ tag has 4 Kanji symbols and each kanji approximately fits within a 2cm (0.8inch) x 8cm (3.14inch) frame or slightly bigger and, in general,  this size is suitable for finger tattoos and behind the ear tattoo.

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.

Nevertheless, please check with the example files.

• jpg: Medium Resolution 
• pdf: Illustrator Editable

If you are happy with the size of the letters (generally for fingers and behind the ear) and do not need to make it bigger, then the “jpg” is fine. But if you are looking 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