Japanese Kanji tattoo help
 

I'm not really sure if this post qualifies for this section but I give it a shot anyway. I am planning on doing several more tattoos on my back in addition to the one I have already, and I need a little help to ensure I get it right. I have one kanji tattooed on my back already, however it is rather large and also very important and meaningful to me (mizu). What I want to do is to continue further below it with smaller text in three sections, aligned underneath to balance it out.

The tricky part for me here is to ensure both that I get the kanji's and meaning right, while also make sure they are correctly placed above/under each other. I have the lyrics I would like to tattoo, yet need to make sure they are correct and need help putting them vertical rather than horizontally. To give you an idea of what I'm aiming for, I have made a simple image.

http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/i...tiontattoo.jpg

This is a image of me and the mizu tattoo I already have. What I would like to do is pretty much what I doodled underneath it with the random kanjis (ignore the meaning, I did not put any effort into making it right, I just needed something for comparison to see if I wanted it that way)
The lyrics I would like is:

kanji:

窓辺に一人きりで只雪を見つめてる君を思い出しながら
硝子越しに君を浮かべ最後の口付けして

ねぇ　笑ってよ　もう泣かないで
ここからずっと貴方を見ているわ

romaji:
(Note: Some sources say the correct word is madohen and not madobe, but I'm not sure which one is right)

Madobe ni hitori kiride tada yuki wo mitsumeteru
kimi wo omoidashi nagara garasu goshi ni kimi wo
ukabe saigo no kuchitsuke shite

Nee waratteyo mou nakanaide
koko kara zutto anata wo mite iru wa

english:
(there are many and varying exact translations for these lyrics, so I just picked one of them as they basically mean the same thing)

All alone by the window, just staring at the snow
While remembering you, seeing you in the glass
I give you a final kiss

Come on, smile, don't cry anymore
From here on, I'll always be watching you

I hope this isn't too much to ask for and that someone out there will try to help me out with this or direct me to someone who can. These lyrics and their meaning are really important to me and I really want to get this right. Send me a personal message or a reply here if you're interested or have any questions/comments

what i want to ask you is where do you get the style of writing from? I mean the style kanji/text will be written in. Don't tell me it will be a computerized font.

Of course not xD I was thinking of getting it done by a calligrapher decently when I obtain the text I want. I just want to make sure that this is correct and see if anyone can help me align it decently so I can make his/her work a bit easier. Since I have to pay to get it done, I might as well do the research myself I figured. Of course, other suggestions are welcome, as figuring out how to do this is pretty much the reason for this post

if you need a calligrapher let me know, i can write it for you. I am sure we can come to some arrangement.

Text is correct:
窓辺に一人きりで只雪を見つめてる君を思い出しながら 硝子越しに君を浮かべ最後の口付けして。。。 ねぇ 笑ってよ もう泣かないで ここからずっと貴方を見ているわ

This would look really beautiful in cursive style, with elements of kana.

Thank you ^^ That was what I feared the most, if I had managed to get it wrong. I am indeed looking for a calligrapher and would love to work with you if you're interested. It seems you really know the ropes, I saw some of your work on a previous thread. You're really talented.

Thank you, I really appreciate it. Please send me an email to [email protected] and we can take it from there. There is few things I need to know before I even start thinking about writing. The style needs to go with your life philosophy, personality, etc. I also wish to know more about your choice of 水 character. I reckon it is crucial.

Just curious, why did you choose water as a character for a tattoo? It makes me think of 水商売.

I will reserve my opinion of sentences or song lyrics in Japanese as tattoos, but at the very least I wouldn't get it written in a different style that the one you already have.

Actually, the answer is both very simple and quite complex at the same time, because for me it's somewhat hard to put the feelings into words.
It's been a nickname (mizu) following me for a very long time, ever since I was a little girl. I grew up by the sea in a small port city and have always been fond of water and it's cousins; ice and snow. I always felt more at ease by water or sea. In many ways, I feel the element completes me and defines my character, so eventually I decided to honor that part of myself through the tattoo and the kanji. It's really very simple, while at the same time defines the complexity that is my character at the same time. Understandable to some, yet incomprehensible to others. My fondness of kanji and Japanese speaks for itself through it.

Water has a deep meaning in Asia. To be like water means flexible, persistent, clear, thus pure, adjustable but powerful if needed, etc. Also it is one of the 5 elements in theory of 5 elements, be it Chinese or Japanese. Water nourishes life, and lack of it takes it away. It is the beginning and end of all things. The list goes on.

Indeed. It's really amazing that such a simple thing can be so crucial, versatile, beautiful and life-sustaining all at the same time. It certainly shows how the simplest of things can be the most important, which is knowledge I also carry with me at all times in life.

By the way, I shall be mailing you soon regarding the calligraphy. I really look forward to chat with you, despite the initial difficulty I have when it comes to describing what even this simple character I already have means to me. I really appreciate it.

my pleasure :)

Not everything in Asia has to be so deep. It also stands for 水商売 (Mizu shōbai) or "the water trade" which is associated with hostess bars and cabarets.

Sure, my obvious choice for a tattoo design.. ^^ Hopefully my answer gave you some idea of my approach instead

I understood it, but that was just the first thing that came to my mind.

Hopefully that's not everyone's first thoughts when they see it, heh ^-^

I guess that's the risk you take when you get a tattoo like that.

Of course :) That way, I guess it also can show how to not judge anyone before you get to know them

MMM, i know what it means.

空 is known as sky yet it also means the void. Similar to 無. I was talking to my wife's friend, she is Japanese, and we were discussing some calligraphy texts. She said that 無 has a negative meaning for her, yet she has changed her mind after I explained her what it means in Zen philosophy. Absolute nothingness as in absence of distortion and desires clouding our view.

For you 水 is hostess clubs, and for me it is a fantastic cosmic force.

I hope you didn't think I was judging you, I was just saying that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw it.

But that is one of the many reasons I don't have tattoos.

No, I didn't think you were either ^^ Luckily, everyone is entitled their own opinion regardless, so no prob^^ It's my first time hearing about that term anyway, so it seems I've learned a lot of new stuff today :)

Hi Niikura. I was working on the calligraphy for your tattoo recently and I am posting here two fragments.

Text will be written in two kana styles: 分かち書き (broken writing)　and 散らし書き (scattered writing). First one means that there will be an open space between 6 lines of text. Such blank space symbolizes "the void" (空) which is the highest element in Japanese theory of five elements. It also will leave a nice opening for the character 水 that you have already had tattooed.

Second method refers to lines beginning from different heights on the paper. It introduces a lot of rhythm, life and emphasizes emotions. Scattered writing symbolizes natural irregularity of a landscape. This is most likely because first poems in kana were capturing beauty of nature.

I am gonna send you a high res. pictures to your email.

first fragment: 窓辺に一人きり (...) 見つめてる君を(...)硝子越(...)


second fragment: (...)口付けして。。。 ねぇ (...) 泣かないで ここ(...)ずっと(...)

Gorgeous calligraphy there, and it almost looks like water trickling down the back which I guess would go with the water thing, but I can't help but notice it doesn't match the style the 水 was written in.

I know nothing of art, is the contrast a good thing?

it can never match the water as the water was a computer font (in my opinion). water can be treated as an image, and the calligraphy will wrap it.

I have prepared the text written on red paper with gold ink, it came out quite nicely.

second half of the text. gold ink allows to see more details, though since the line is very delicate everything cannot be caught on the camera.

:d
 

I'm very pleased with the calligraphy, it's simply stunning! I love the style and how it seems dynamic, flowing and elegant at the same time, brilliant.
As for the contrast and difference, I really don't mind at all. It is something I knew I would have to decide and I do not regret it either. Since both tattoos represent different things, it's really okay for me to have them look differently as well. But when I decided to cover my back in these kanji, I at least wanted it done properly. There's no way I would cover my back completely in these "computer fonts" to this extent.

Anyway, wonderful work. I come home from Egypt tomorrow so I'll write you an email tomorrow evening.

Thank you Niikura, I am really happy it agrees with your personality and aesthetics. I really enjoyed writing it too, thus there is a lot of positive energy locked within those lines.