Welcome to StockKanji - Here you will find thousands of original Japanese Kanji Designs suitable for tattoos and crafts as well as for commercial graphic design applications. Each design was personally hand-lettered by Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase and each design can be immediately downloaded as soon as your order is placed.

To learn more about Master Takase read this excellent interview Hara: Master Calligrapher Eri Takase on the Art and Energy of Japanese Calligraphy. Or visit Master Takase's studio website Takase Studios - Fine Japanese Calligraphy.

Eternal Love Japanese Kanji Tattoo

For Japanese Tattoos, and for crafts, the designs come as a high-resolution Adobe PDF file. This means it will print just as Master Takase brushed the design. We provide you with everything you need for an authentic and completely accurate Japanese Symbol Tattoo including the line art that your tattoo artist needs to properly ink the design - even if they don't know Japanese! Simply print the design and take it to your local tattoo shop. It is that easy!

It is said a picture is worth a thousand words, click on Year of the Tiger - Sample Tattoo Design and see for yourself the quality of our designs. These are so good you can actually print them on nice paper and frame them! To learn how see Resizing StockKanji Designs.

Believe (shin) For Graphic Artists we offer each design in JPG formats at 72, 300 and 600 dpi. The lower resolution is suitable for use on websites and the higher resolution is suitable for all print applications including advertising, book illustrations, marketing material and product packaging. We also offer a very generous Licensing Agreement. We are also starting to offer more Custom Commercial Design options. If you don't see what you need please Contact Us.

Translation Check eiai Eternal Love We want you to be as happy with the translation as you are with Master Takase's beautiful Japanese art and so each of our Japanese Kanji Designs are carefully researched and documented. For Words and Phrases we provide links to independent on-line dictionaries. For those without Japanese fonts we use Jeffrey's Japanese<->English Dictionary. For those with Japanese fonts we use Yahoo! Japan's Japanese Dictionary. When appropriate we also include links to Wikipedia and other reliable sources - all with an eye to making it easy for you to confirm for yourself that our translations are correct. For Names in Japanese we provide multiple resources. If the name is in Jeffrey's Japanese<->English Dictionary then we provide the link. Next we have links to two Japanese movie websites which have standard translations for many, many names. And finally we have our own list of the most common spellings of celebrity names. And we provide you with many of these links so you can confirm the translation for yourself. For Name Meanings, which are perfect for names like Joy and Faith, we provide direct links to the two most popular name etymology websites Babynamer.com and BehindTheName.com. In addition we provide reference to two of the most respected books on name meanings: The Comprehensive Dictionary of English & Hebrew First Names by Alfred J. Kolatch and A Dictionary of First Names (Oxford Paperback Reference) by Hanks, Hardcastle, and Hodges For Proverbs and Poems we have found on-line sources to be less reliable. Because of this we give the source of one or more books that document the translation. We give full references and links so you can either easily order the book on Amazon or find the book in your local library or bookstore. Look for Translation Check on each page for resources you can use to check the translation for yourself. We want you to be as happy with the translation as you are with the beautiful artwork.

What's New? We have been very busy. Here is a short list of what is really new. Digitally Re-mastered Designs We have just finished digitally re-mastering every design on the site. The designs are now even more are amazing. The personal use Adobe PDF designs are of such high quality that you can print them on fine paper and frame it as artwork! Many people have written to us saying they love our designs but not for a tattoo. Rather they want to use the design for a craft project or to simply print out and frame. We thought what a great way to get quick, affordable and beautiful art. We were also hearing from Tattoo Artists skilled in inking Japanese Calligraphy designs that they wanted to see more of the fine brush work and details of the calligraphy. Thank you for your emails and this is for you. See Resizing StockKanji Designs for a real example with step by step instructions on how to resize and print a design suitable for framing. Names in Hiragana Due to popular demand we have added hiragana designs for each name. Hiragana was created by the Heian poetess's as a more feminine alternative to the angular and more masculine looking katakana. Today, katakana is the standard for rendering non-Japanese names to Japanese. However, women especially prefer the more feminine hiragana for their names. Here are two examples of our name designs so you can compare the two and decide for yourself which you prefer: Amanda Katakana, Vertical Amanda Hiragana, Vertical Notice that for each name we provide three different versions. The translation is exactly the same - the name is simply written in a different size and font. This way you have a choice on which to use. Also all of the name fonts match so you can order different names, combine them into a single design and they will look perfect together. If the name you are looking for does not have a hiragana option just Contact Us and we will will put it up for you. You are My Life, You are My Love Two of Master Takase's most popular and most requested custom designs are: "You are My Life" (for example Amanda is My Life) and "You are My Love" (for example, Amanda is My Love). Now we offer both these designs for every name in the catalog where the name can be in either katakana or hiragana. These designs symbolize devotion and love and so may represent anyone that is loved including a child, a parent, as well as, and more commonly, the love of your life. Here are two examples so you can see for yourself just how great they look: Amanda is My Life with Amanda in Katakana Amanda is My Love with Amanda in Hiragana The You are My Life design has the kanji Life (inochi) as the main character with the name written in the lower left. Just below the name is a small red seal for Eternity (ei). This is an ancient design used to symbolize a person as being one's whole life, one's whole reason for being. The You are My Life design has the kanji Love (ai) as the main character with the name written in the lower right. Just below the name is a small red seal for Eternity (ei). If the name you are interested in does not have these options, just Contact Us and we will put it up for you. Name Meanings Japanese kanji Rocio roshio Names have a pronunciation (how the name sounds) and this is properly translated to katakana. Name also have a meaning (the original word the name came from) which can be nicely translate to kanji. For some names, like Joy and Faith the name is the word itself and so the meaning is clear. For others a little more work is involved and sometimes a single name can have many possible meanings. For example the name Rocio (roshio) means "Dew (tsuyu)". We show an example on the left that combines the pronunciation of Rocio in katakana and the meaning of Rocio (which is "dew") in kanji. This is nice as often names are selected for their meaning and these designs properly translate both the pronunciation and the meaning of the name. There are many great resources for finding the meaning such as Babynamer and BehindTheName where you can confirm the meaning of the name for yourself. Where there is a clear meaning we have added links to designs with the Japanese translation. This makes it easy for you to combine the pronunciation in katakana with the meaning in kanji. And you can do this for many names in the catalog. To learn more and see samples visit Translating Your Whole Name into Japanese

"Who Designed Your Japanese Tattoo?" Wouldn't it be nice to be able to say "Eri Takase - A Master Japanese Calligrapher". The truth is many people don't know who designed their tattoo - they walk into a tattoo shop and pick something based on the English. They are not sure if it is correct. The tattoo artist often cannot confirm the meaning. They are not even sure if it is Japanese, Chinese or an expresssion so archaic that no one uses it!

Don't let this be you! If you order from StockKanji.com you can shop with confidence as every carefully researched design was personally hand-brushed by Master Takase. We give you everything you need, including links to independent dictionaries, so you can be absolutely confident and proud of your Japanese Kanji tattoo. And if you ever have any questions about a design you know you can Contact Us and get the answer.

Takase Studios - Custom Japanese Calligraphy StockKanji.com has thousands of ready-made hand-lettered Japanese Calligraphy designs for personal and commercial use. Though if you are looking for that personal touch or are interested in Custom Japanese Art or a Custom Japanese Scroll then you will want to visit Takase Studios - Custom Japanese Calligraphy At Takase Studios - Custom Japanese Calligraphy you can work directly with Eri Takase to create a unique work of art that is just for you. Whether you are looking for a one of a kind Custom Tattoo Design, a Custom Japanese Scroll or Custom Artwork suitable for framing - We would love to work with you to make your vision into a unique work of art.

Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase is a well known and respected artist. Perhaps you have seen Master Takase's work in books and magazines. A few months ago Master Takase's work was featured by TV Guide in a design for their party at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards and the invitation was shown on NBC's EXTRA! And Master Takase's art is prominently featured in a new book covering the best tattoo artists from around the world.

Tattoo Sourcebook Featuring designs by Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase has lent her hand to over forty original designs for Tattoo Sourcebook which is a compendium of modern designs by today's hottest tattoo artists. The book is available through Barnes and Nobles. For the perfect Japanese Calligraphy tattoo design visit our own StockKanji.com which features over ten thousand original designs by Master Takase - original designs available no where else. These carefully researched and beautifully hand-lettered designs come with the line art that your tattoo artist needs to ink the design. Just order and print and take to your tattoo artist. We give you everything you need for the perfect Japanese tattoo - your tattoo artist does not even need to know Japanese. And all designs can be instantly downloaded so you can get your Japanese tattoo today. Not only can you get a design from a name you trust, but you can get it now! Eri Takase is ranked a Master Calligrapher by two of Japan's most prestigious calligraphic societies. Training since the age of six in traditional Japanese calligraphy she has expanded her art to include custom tattoo designs and recently has started her own website featuring frequently requested designs that are economical and can be immediately downloaded. To see her beautiful calligraphy designs visit StockKanji.com

StockKanji - Japanese Kanji Tattoos has over 10000 individual Japanese tattoo designs. With each design we provide you with everything you need to take to your tattoo artist. Our carefully documented and beautifully executed tattoo designs are in an Adobe PDF file (your computer should be able to read these). This means that your Japanese Kanji Tattoo will print out exactly as lettered by Master Takase and it also means you can easily change the size and the image will remain crisp and clear. And the designs come with the line art that your tattoo artist is going to need to properly ink the design.

With your order you get everything you need to take to your tattoo artist to get the perfect Japanese Symbol Tattoo! And your tattoo artist doesn't even need to know Japanese!

Year of the Snake (Adobe PDF)

Amy in Japanese(Adobe PDF)

If you are not sure if your computer can read an Adobe PDF file, then just click on one of the designs above. You should have no problems but if you do, the PDF Reader can be downloaded from Adobe for free.

Download the latest Adobe PDF Reader for free:

The Japanese Tattoo Designs above are just two samples from among the thousands of Japanese Symbol Tattoos available at StockKanji.com. The left is one of our Zodiac designs for Year of the Snake. And on the right is one of our Name in Japanese designs for Amy (Notice that name designs have three different versions so you have a choice).

If you click on and open the designs, notice that they print exactly as designed by Master Takase and that you can also easily change the size of the design.

And keep in mind that all Japanese kanji designs on StockKanji.com (except, of course, for special orders) can be immediately downloaded when your order is placed - there is no waiting. Just place your order and then simply click on the provided link to download the design. Ordering is Quick, Easy, and Safe.

yuuki
Courage / Bravery

Top Ten Most Popular Japanese Tattoo Designs:

1 Family 2 Eternal Love 3 Inner Strength 4 Love 5 Hope
6 Live in the Moment 7 True Victory is Victory Over Oneself
8 Each Moment Only Once 9 Honor 10 Freedom

We also offer a unique service where you can work directly with Master Takase on a Custom Japanese Tattoo. Designs can usually be completed in just a few days. For more information see Custom Japanese Tattoo Designs (notice this is a link to our custom design website).

If you have any questions or suggestions for items you would like to see in the catalog, you are always welcome to Contact Us.

So take a look around and enjoy these beautiful hand-lettered Japanese Kanji Tattoos and know that at StockKanji.com you can shop with confidence.

First Love hatsukoi

We try to select designs that have universal appeal and we try to include at least one recommended design every day. If you have a design idea that you think would fit in the catalog, by all means please let us know.

Today, at Laura's recommendation, we added the phrase First Love which we have translated as hatsukoi in Japanese Kanji.

Visit First Love (hatsukoi) to see all six new designs.

Thank you Laura!

Want to know what we are working on? Visit Eri Takase on Twitter and keep up to date with the latest at Takase Studios.