Japanese Sleeve Tattoo Designs and Ideas - The Hottest in Sleeve Tattoo Designs

Are you looking for a full or half sleeve tattoo design that is unique and different then a lot of the others you have seen out there already? You might want to consider a Japanese sleeve tattoo design. There are tons of great themes and designs that can easily be incorporated into a full sleeve, half sleeve or even a quarter sleeve.

Japanese Koi Tattoo Designs

The koi fish is one of the most sacred animals in Japan and used throughout Japanese visual arts and designs. The legend is that the koi fish is strong and swims upstream again the river and eventually turns into a dragon. So the koi fish is often used to symbolize strength, power and finding one's own path. Thus can make a great sleeve tattoo design. With a beautiful blue water background and the wonderful gold colors of the koi fish splashing in the water makes a very sticking tattoo design and one that is authentic Japanese style also.

Japanese Dragon Tattoo

Another very popular design hat is used in Japanese tattoo art is the dragon. The dragon is again a symbol for power and strength and because of the shape of a dragon's body being long and skinny it can easily be incorporated into a wonderful full sleeve tattoo design that twists around the arm with the head coming up at the top of the should area. This is also a very classic Japanese tattoo design and one that can work well as a sleeve tattoo.

The Japanese gods and Spirits

The Japanese religious world is filled with different goes and spirits. Some of these of course are very good-natured friendly spirits and gods that help humans. Some however are bad and evil spirits. It is customary in front of many Japanese temples that there are two pretty evil looking statues. These are the gods that guard the temple. Without going too deeply into the Shinto religion these gods are often used for protection. They are frequently used in tattoo designs throughout Japan as protection also. These oni or evil gods can scare off other evil spirits. They are often red and have horns but can be done in a variety of ways.