Style: Oriental

The traditional Japanese tattoos would cover a very large area on the body, and would be carefully planned and custom made in beforehand to fit the clients body and musculature. This style is usually very colorful and detailed and because the work is so big and complex, it can take years to complete. The western version or modern oriental tattoos tend to be smaller and only borrow smaller samples making several smaller tattoos instead of one big.

The traditional Japanese style has had quite allot of influence on the modern western tattoos making them larger and more carefully planned rather than putting small random pieces all over the body, thus making a more customized tattoo. In Japan all tattoo artists are called "Hori"-something the tradition was to have the artist select the design the client was going to wear. Oriental tattooing is also a secret symbol for the Japanese gangsters called the Yakuza. Common themes for this style are dragons, flowers and people for the foreground, water and waves as background.

Example(s):