Wabi-sabi (wabisabi)

Scroll to see all 14 Japanese Wabi-sabi tattoo designs

Here we offer 14 different hand-brushed Japanese Wabi-sabi tattoo designs by Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase. For these Wabi-sabi tattoo designs the fonts are different, but the characters and the meaning are the same. So order the style you like - the meaning is the same for each design.

Wabi-sabi in Japanese is 侘寂 which is read wabisabi. There are three common ways to write wabisabi and this is one case where we disagree with Jefferey's Enlglish <-> Japanese Dictionary. These three ways are (1) all kanji as in 侘寂 (read wabisabi) (2) with the first bi in hiragana 侘び寂 (read wabisabi) and (3) with both bi in hiragana 侘び寂び (read wabisabi). One commonly sees the first in English dictionaries and books so we include this. Our preference is the second - the all kanji and the repetition of bi are too symmetrical for my taste and seems to contradict the meaning of the word. Each is correct so you may select the form that most suits your sense of aesthetics.

To learn more, read the book Wabi Sabi: The Art of Everyday Life by Diane Durston and illustrations by Eri Takase or see the on-line article at Wikipedia Wabi-sabi.

Translations You Can Trust: We want you to be as happy with the Japanese translation as you are with Master Takase's beautiful art. So we have made it easy to confirm the translation for yourself by simply clicking on Wabi-sabi (wabisabi) which links to the independent Jeffrey's Japanese English Dictionary.

With your order, you will receive everything you need for the perfect Wabi-sabi in Japanese Tattoo. Your design comes as an Adobe PDF file which means it will print exactly as Master Takase brushed the design and, of course, it includes the line art (also called a stencil) which your tattoo artist must have to properly ink the design.

The Adobe PDF file completely documents the design and contains everything your tattoo artist needs to properly ink the design. Your tattoo artist does not need to know Japanese.