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Per the title, what does this tattoo say?
this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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Note: this is an example of how to respond to a translation request.
It's supposed to be 武神 — bushin; warrior god or god of martial arts. It should be noted that the characters are mirrored so be sure to find a tattoo artist who knows how to read Chinese characters.
At least it doesn't say... well, any number of things it could say.
This guy translates tattoos for people:
https://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/
Ooh nice, thanks for the link. Looks like they haven't updated in years. Time for the community to fill the niche!
I wondered why I was having so much trouble with it, i thought it was a made up "just make it look japanese" thing. Yes its mirrored as k0e3 says.
As someone who has been asked for kanji tattoo advice for decades, pre Internet, its ok to draw inspiration from this picture for the design but then you check the text in a dictionary, draw up the tattoo pattern and these days check with knowledgeable people online on the final design. AND whatever else you need to do with the artist. I don't have any tattoos or piercings, I can't speak to that side.