My right arm represents the desire to follow your heart and choose your own path. The woman at the bottom is a painting by Audrey Kawasaki that I changed a bit. In my version, she is meant to be blind. Her heart is exposed but she doesn't look scared. The lotus flower is the mitsudomoe. It represents man, earth, and sky—the connection between mankind and nature. The blackbird is Yatagarasu, a three-legged crow that represents divine intervention and guidance. It's found throughout Asian culture. The masks are from the play Noh Doujouji:
The story behind the left arm is those are pictures from the Hubble telescope on his birthday and my birthday. The flowers are spider lilies or higanbana in Japanese. They represent the separation of people and the renewal of when you see them again. Inner-arm are my mother, sister, and grandmother’s favorite flowers and a burning candle that expresses my unwavering loyalty and love to them. The other flowers are a part of hanakotoba, samurai would get these flowers tattooed on them bc they knew they wouldn’t get a proper funeral. The 4 is my favorite number and a part of my star sign. Purple tattoo is the eternal knot of Buddha and below that is my mother’s name. The moon and sun are my mother and father and stars are my brother and sister.
So, my tattoos represent my journey through life and my connection to my culture and familial heritage.