Dear blog,
Today, I wanted to write about tattoos. They are art that we carry on our skin. I myself am not very artistic, and maybe that's the reason why I don't have one. But I've been secretly jealous for people who have beautiful tattoos that are now a part of who they are.
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| Ira Chernova. |
Tattoos are a way to make friends. It's like a code: if you see someone who has a tattoo, you know they share at least one aspect of their worldview with you. It's a conversation starter. You can share stories and talk about the pictures, text and symbols you and they have tattooed on your bodies and where and
why.
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| Via Overd0z. |
I really like Ira Chernova's tattoos. I think she's beautiful. Her tattoo choices seem somehow unusual. It's fascinating.
I think it's just as fine to have writing tattooed on you as it is to have a picture, as long as you can read your tattoo yourself. There's no worse tattoo than ones that are grammatically incorrect or say something that you didn't want written on you.
My favourite type of tattoo is something like this:
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| Tattoo Design Live. |
I guess I find that there's something magical about big tattoos on small people. Especially when none of it seems like it's too much. I like the tree, the compass and the owl. It gives me a feeling that she's part of nature. People sometimes argue against tattoos by saying that it's changing our bodies in an unnatural way. But if tattoo makes you seem natural, then it's just beautiful, right?
There are people who find tattoos really cool. You get respect from them if you have tattoos. They
probably find me boring, because I don't have any. I'm trying to figure out whether I find
myself boring.
I'm actually don't think there's
anything wrong with my skin. It seems fine without ink.
I feel like if you're going to get a tattoo, there needs to be a good reason why you're going to get that tattoo. Perhaps people who are covered in tattoos get pictures just because they think it might go with the rest of their tattooing, or maybe they just have a lot of meaningful stories. We all have a lot of stories. But maybe it's easier to tell them if they are tattooed on you? Or maybe then there's no need to tell them. But I feel like if you're going to get your first tattoo - there definitely needs to be a good story or reason behind it.
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| Jonna Äyhö. |
My friend, Jonna, got her daughter's name tattooed on her shoulder. I think that is definitely a meaningful tattoo you wouldn't regret.
Probably the biggest reason why I don't
have a tattoo is that I don't have a clue what sort of picture would
be meaningful enough for me to tattoo it to my body. Not to mention
that I would also have to know where I want the tattoo. And it costs and probably hurts as well.
Until now, I've always been quite sad
that I don't have a tattoo. Nothing to talk about with those cool
kids.
But now I am quite happy being
tattooless! I've been looking into Japanese culture recently, and
turns out that tattoos are not cool in Japan. In recent past, tattoos
used to be illegal and they are still associated with criminals. In
Japan, tattooes are not seen as something respectable. Apparently
many places may refuse to serve tattooed customers. And in some
places such as gyms and onsens they are banned. Onsens are places where you go to bathe and relax. You use them naked because it's easier to relax when you don't wear a swimming costume. And that's why everyone would see your tattoos, and it might cause problems.
And after I have learned Japanese, I
want to go and visit Japan. And it would be sad if I couldn't visit
an onsen.
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| Hakuba Happo Hot Springs. 白馬八方温泉。 |
Onsens are "hot springs" that are located in hot spring area where you get to bathe and relax in really hot water. There are a lot of different ones. There are public ones where men and women are separate. Some are run by the muncipilaty and might even be free. Then there are some private ones that are meant for families or couples. At the moment they are something that I definitely want to experience when I go to visit Japan. They are on the activity list already!
My Japanese vocabulary is still fairly limited. I can say hello, introduce myself and say onsen. I haven't even learned many kanjis* yet. I know the kanji for an onsen and for a book.
* Kanjis are the Chinese characters that are used when writing Japanese.
I feel like I have now learned very essential things. I also know that a book is pronounced "hon".
So, because I am this excited about the possibility of visiting an onsen, I am not even worried about not having any tattoos anymore. Oh, and no - I wouldn't get a kanji tattoo even if I could go to an onsen with one.
After feeling lame for so many years because I didn't have any, I don't feel that way anymore. I like this feeling. I celebrated it by buying a new dress.
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| New dress. |
What kind of tattoos do you like?
