Japanese Koi Fish Tattoo Designs

Japanese Koi Fish Tattoo Design

Tattoo Center. Japanese Koi Fish Tattoo Designs. Koi fish tattoos are as varied and as popular as the animal they represent. Koi tattoo designs are often combined with splashing water, cherry blossom and lotus flowers. Koi fish are a species of carp (Koi is the Japanese word for carp) that are specially bred to have wild, brilliant color schemes. Originally a ravenous pet species that stirred up silt in waterways, the Japanese have inbred them and turned them into gemlike marvels. The general symbolic meaning of koi and koi tattoos is good luck.

Japanese Koi Fish Design Tattoo

Interestingly, the Japanese assign different symbolic meanings to the fish depending upon the way it behaves, either in the pond or in the wild. The Chinese, on the other hand, have a very special interpretation of koi fish in general. The Japanese word Koi translates as carp, but also as love, therefore koi fish are a symbol of love (the kind of love you have for your lover, not for your parents for example). In Japan, the koi as a symbol is very masculine. When a son is born in Japan, flags with koi fish images are displayed.

Koi Fish Japanese Tattoo Design

Nowadays, koi tattoos are popular amongst men as well as women. Since they are considered to be extremely energetic, koi fish tattoo designs usually have very lively colors and lots of movement. The koi fish is powerful enough to fight river currents and swim against the stream in order to reach its food sources or spawning grounds. Sharing much of its imagery with the Japanese for the koi's strength and determination, the Chinese koi is also associated with life-long good fortune. Koi tattoo art will bring you wealth and abundance.

Koi Fish Japanese Design Tattoo

Since koi can eat a hefty portion of their body weight every day, they were expensive to keep. The wealthier one was, the more koi one could afford to have. More often than not koi tattoos are very large tattoos, with intricate shading and colors to depict their rainbow of scales and their strong swimming motion against the current. Koi fish tattoos are popular for the back and both shoulders, or as a sleeve tattoo. Their backgrounds are often as spectacular as the fish itself: with crashing water, suns and moons, cherry blossom and lotus petals floating along.