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Prepare your kimono and your katana, as they are about to see a gallery full of images of these powerful and emblematic Japanese warriors for whom honor was a maxim in their lives. Soak up this exciting Asian culture with our fantastic gallery of tattoo images with the samurai as protagonists.
To talk about the history of the samurai, we must go back to Japan in the 10th century. These formidable warriors, considered the military elite, initially served the emperor of Japan and the surrounding nobility, but they grew in number, and eventually ended up forming their own branch within the government of the time. The samurai took great pride in maintaining a moral code of norms called "Bushido," a word that means "The way of the warrior." This strict code of conduct contemplated the following fields: righteousness, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor and loyalty.
The images chosen to perform these tattoos are usually designs that range from simple isolated symbols to large and elaborate combat scenes. For many people, these tattoos symbolize strength, courage, honor, victory over adversity or freedom of spirit. Large areas of the body, such as the back, offer an ideal frame for these great samurai combat scene tattoos, and conversely, those minor tattoos of small symbols or designs can be located virtually anywhere on the body and in any colour.
These tattoos often show images of traditional samurai masks. Originally, these masks with scary designs and intimidating faces of demons or supernatural beings served more than one purpose. On the one hand they protected the warrior's identity and concealed their emotions in combat, and on the other hand they served for intimacy to the enemies.
Apart from the traditional images of samurai, katanas and masks, large samurai tattoos can also contain other very representative symbols of Japanese culture, such as dragons, representing courage, strength and freedom, Koi fish, symbols of perseverance in the face of adversity, or the famous geisha, evoking everything feminine, graceful and adorable.
As we have said before, these tattoos can be located in several areas of the body, although the most spectacular are usually found on the back, where they look in full color, especially in representatives of the male gender.
If this ancient culture has left you absorbed, you may want to get a tattoo of this theme, for which, we always like to remind you that you must go to specialized centers to get the best results in these tattoos that will accompany you throughout your life.
The face of a samurai with the rising sun in the background. The rising sun in the background is a very original element and is widely used in relation to this culture. The details of the samurai's face as well as the hair are very worked. It can also be observed that its expression shows strength and that gives meaning to the design.
Although you may think that he is not a samurai, I have to say that he is. In this case this man has chosen the leg for his tattoo. The samurai has very long hair and a sword or knife in his hand. I'm not sure but it seems he is smoking. At the bottom, there are several branches and bushes. The tattoo artist has played with gray and dark colors to obtain this magnificent result.
Fight between two samurai in blue tones. It seems an unfinished design because the blue tone has not been painted as a detail or, at least that feeling is what it gives.
Tattoo of a warrior on the leg. The design of the image made in black and white and with different shading. You can see the multitude of details and textures of them thanks to a well refined technique. What may affect the overall image of the design a bit is the tattoo that appears under the design we are talking about.
Samurai on the arm. Original design both for the strokes used, which are not very common and for the position in which the samurai appears. It could have a more realistic result if head and body were more proportionate. In addition the part of the wardrobe below seems somewhat confusing which affects the final result.
Samurai warrior drawing his sword. Awesome design that seems to be pencil-drawn. It also adapts very well to this area of the body. On the other hand, it diffuses and disappears very subtly what gives realism to the design. No doubt the artist's technique is undeniable, we can look at details such as hair, which is faithfully reproduced in detail.
Here we see a samurai design and a message next to it. As you can see, the samurai suits are similar in all designs: a multitude of details, with different textures which are reached by different use of shading.
Skull with a warrior helmet. The part of the skull itself is well defined, but there are several details of the format that confuse a little. For example, the species of skull knob seems not to make much sense. On the other hand, the helmet, without padding, without texture and without defining … This is also aggravated if we compare it with the definition of the skull. They seem completely different and have no connection between them.
Design of a warrior on a man's chest. The technique used is optimal and no fault can be taken. Good use of black saturation and shading, especially if you look at the shadow next to the feet of man, which gives a very successful three-dimensional effect.
Design of a samurai in black tones. What is not very clear in this design is gender, on the one hand the face has effeminate features, but if you look at the legs, by their dimensions, you could say they are from a man. In addition the missing arm is missing, it precedes that in the shoulder it disappears and there is no arm.
Sumrái design, something different from those seen so far, in which you could see a common element such as the helmet. On the other hand, the samurai's expression seems somewhat diabolical, the eyebrows are not well proportioned …
Samurai sword with traces of blood on his hands, arms and face. Blood takes a leading role by using color only for that element. Good use has been made of black colo in contrast to blood red. If we look in detail, like the face, we can see that the features are not very successful: little space for the forehead, nose and mouth too close together …
A very personal samurai design. Normally we are used to seeing samurai designs men and not women. Very successful details: transparency of the dress, hair … In addition a small detail in red is included in the handle of the sword.
Hyper realistic design of a samurai. The layout, the shading, the details, the sensation of movement, the facial expression of the man; a set of elements that give an undeniably perfect result. The force that the sumrái transmits with the eyes, the expression of the mouth … They are very difficult elements to obtain in a tattoo, which this artist has faithfully reproduced in relation to reality.
Nice Japanese scene of a girl with a samurai sword and a typical Japanese building as a background. The background has a better result than the figure of the girl itself. Although the conjutno of the tattoo has a great result, you can see features on the girl's face somewhat strange: the eyes very different from each other, very wide nose … Also the sword handle does not seem to be the same size at the beginning and in the end, there is a strange figure.
Tattooed warrior on the arm over yellowish flowers. The warrior's design is very good, although it does not match well with the flowers located at the bottom of the design; they seem completely different elements, that is, very different concepts that increase these differences through the use of color in one of them and the unique presence of black in the human figure.
A common element in these warriors is that most are done in black and white colors. This original design for how the wind integrates through the leaves around, the movement of the fabrics and the hair … It gives a sense of reality and captures all the realism of a scene.
Samurai warrior fighting. Mutual of details in the helmet or in the sleeves of the suit but with several failures. The look of the warrior, it is not known if it is an eye of cristas or the tattoo artist paid little attention to the position of the eyes.On the other hand, the torso of the samurai is missing, which seems incomplete.
Samurai design with animal influences. It seems that the character's face could fit better if we saw her as an animal than as a human being; which is not negative, but is played with these concepts.
Design of a terrifying warrior monster surrounded by a dragon. It seems that the tattoo should be finished, since the warrior is fully made, but the dragon is missing the shadow games.
Magnificent design that covers the entire back. The details made and the background are impressive. The samurai is very well reflected although, personally, I would have tattooed it without a mask to be able to better convey the feeling of the character and give more strength to the design, more meaning and more realism.
Warrior on his horse tattooed on the back. Design of large dimensions which requires tattooing in a wide area such as the back. The position of the horse, the musculature of this, are faithfully represented. Perhaps some more movement to the samurai is missing, since the horse is full of that movement we are talking about, which the Sumrái lacks.
Another design of a samurai, which we find different from what we are used to seeing in this category. The eyes with lack of expression, the helmet with lack of details and even more if we compare it with the character's suit.
Several Japanese characters and a monk with a samurai sword tattooed along the back.
Colorful design covering the entire back. It is a design in which a samurai appears fighting a dragon. Details in pink like flowers and the character's costume and in yellow some part of the dragon's body. The background of oriental influence and with different shades gives identity to the design.
Tattoo on the arm. The idea of a samurai who is not in a fighting position is also very interesting, it represents rationality, thought, tranquility … In the design, a good use of perspective is made in relation to the background.
A warrior and a dragon not too well achieved because each of the characters is in totally different positions, which makes it appear that they do not interact with each other.
The face of a samurai. Very realistic design, it only loses some realism in the area of the back and the hand that holds it. But this, no doubt, is supplemented by the great technique used in the rest of the character's face. It is interesting that you look at the brightness of the eyes that give that special touch to the design. The hair very well achieved in turn by the multitude of details.
Another warrior whose touch of color is the orange leaves that surround him. A very interesting idea that, personally, I think I would have a better result if I focused more on the warrior's facial expression, that is, to perform the tattoo in a bigger way and bypassing part of the body. The best hand we do not comment.
Design on the side. The conjutno of the tattoo has a good result, but there are details that spoil the design: the hands, the feet, the look … What is well achieved is the sensation of movement that can be observed in the warrior's clothing, but this aspect is harmed by the little movement in the part of the character's hair.
In the samurai design arm accompanied by what looks like an oriental mask. The design is a strange thing, it could be shaped only with the top part where it already combines the human face with a mask.
Scene that covers the entire back.
Colorful sleeve design.
Samurai warrior tattooed on the upper back. The saturation of the color is correct but the transition at the bottom of it leaves much to be desired, since as you can see it has not been tried to blur the figure to give it a more natural finish and that fits very well with this type of designs .
Design of a samurai in a war position, which appears with two swords and what appear to be a kind of flag that comes out of each of these flags. When we look at these details we cannot ignore that the way in which the hands have been traced is not the most appropriate.
Samurai warrior fighting on the side. Its hands are somewhat deformed and although it has been wanted to give movement, it has not been achieved at all, it can be seen in the hair (which is very artificial). As for the rest of the design, it is proportionate but the aspects mentioned above are detrimental to it.
Design of an original samurai at least, for the paths that look like a pencil. It reminds us of a kind of sketch in which, despite not having many details, the finish is impressive and the originality of it too.
Process of making a great tattoo on the back. It will not be little time for the boy to spend in that position.
Warrior or skull head with helmet with Chinese or Japanese characters on the sides.
Nice design of a samurai with profile and Chinese characters. The part that is not very finished is the color one. This is because, if we look closely at the image, parts of the samurai dress appear in brown tones and others seem unfinished in comparison.
Samurai warrior with his sword tattooed on his arm.
Very nice design with a typical Japanese building in the background.
This design is somewhat strange since the warrior's face is not visible but blood is dripping from his sword.
Nice designs that cover a large part of the limbs.
Design on the arm.
This design is elegant and beautiful. An Asian woman dressed in kimono and carrying a samurai sword. Black ink has been used in the drawing and some red dots and objects have been highlighted. Magnificent idea and spectacular result.
Profile of a samurai tattooed on the arm.
Defeated warrior tattooed on the arm.
Tattoo on the arm.
Skull with a warrior's hat.
Tattoo on the twin.
Design of a warrior on a red background and with Japanese characters aside.
Nice scene of a warrior, cherry blossoms and a typical Japanese building to the side.
Image of a samurai in reddish and black tone. The brightness of the image does not help us to comment on all the details, since in this area they cannot be appreciated. The samurai's expression and body position is correct.
Nice profile design of a warrior surrounded by autumn leaves. The black color is the protagonist, but you can see some detail in red as are the leaves, which gives importance to these details but does not take it away from the main character.
It has a somewhat strange appearance, since it looks like an older person. However, some samurai tattoos that look older can make reference to the importance of the experience about youth.
Tattoo on the twin. This type of samurari also has aspects that do not match the prototypes of a samurai that we can think of at any given time. In this design we can see that it is a samurari who does not wear a helmet, the clothing has not been given enough importance …
Warrior on cherry blossoms. In this design it can be seen that the elements are not well fitted, since the bright color of the flowers in contrast to that of the samurai takes away prominence and not even the shapes or paths have to do, so they look like tattoos that They cannot be combined in any way.
In black tones and in attack position. The use of black and shading is very well done. It seems somewhat disproportionate and the bottom seems unfinished as it ends without any transition.
A smaller design than seen so far on the arm. The characteristic aspects of this design, unlike others, is that it looks like a rendered samurai, since the sword appears stuck in the ground and the expression of the face looking down. Similarly, no emphasis has been placed on its armor.
In black tones and it presents an element different from the rest of designs that can be seen, and it is that a mask is shown that seems to evoke the devil in red tones and with an evil expression. In my opinion, it is not a good idea to mix these two designs, since the samurai has enough meaning to have to combine it with more elements.
Beautiful face of a girl with Japanese clothes. The background is also an element worked on this design, you can see different reasons in the dress of the young with different and original shapes such as flowers and branches.
Design on the thigh of a samurai in attack position. What happens in this design is that it seems that the samurai wears a mask, since the facial expression of the mask is not appreciated, which influences that the final result is worse than expected.
Great design of a warrior with some touches of white ink that brings luminosity.
Tattoo on the side of the back.
Summary
| Most tattooed body areas | As it is a mostly masculine motive, the back, arms, chest, legs, side and belly are the most tattooed places with these motifs. |
| Most used colors or inks | Black and gray colors. Very dark colors. |
| More men or more women? Is it more feminine or masculine? | It is a design chosen by men, mostly. It's hard to find a woman who has one of these tattoos. |
| What is their size? Are they usually large, small or medium? | 95% are medium and large. |
| Symbolism or meaning of these motives | It symbolizes struggle, courage, honor and courage among other meanings. |
| Most popular reasons that accompany them? | As they are knights, then swords, bows, helmets and shields among others. |
| Medium difficulty of designs | The difficulty of these tattoos is usually very high because they have many details and many try to make it as we see them in the movies or in our imagination. |
What does a girl think about these designs?
If you have taken a look at the image gallery, in this section the girls are a minority. It is they who prefer designs of this type. The reason is the same as with similar designs or that convey the same. The girls flee more than designs that inspire or give a feeling of violence. The samurai, although they are designs in some cases very elegant and beautiful, convey that meaning and on the subject of tattoos the girls are more peaceful.
