Japanese Girl Tattoos Symbolism And Meaning

Japanese Cherry Blossom Tattoos

Fo the Japanese the Cherry blossom flower is not so much a symbol of the feminine and femine beauty although it was used in that way also on Kimono designs it is seen as a symbol of life.

The cherry blossom is a very delicate flower that typically blossom in late winter to early spring. It is often a very short lived time in which it blooms and then it quickly fall from the tree and lays on the ground. The Japanese felt that the cherry blossom represent life in that life is something of great beauty yet it is very quick and passing and in the end is full of suffereing also. This comes from very core Buddhist teachings that all life is suffering and one mustsimply give in to the suffering and let go. Through this letting go the suffering ends and people can achieve enlightenment.

For the Japanese the Cherry blossom is often also used symbolically or idealistically to represent the true way of a Samurai. The Samurai never know when they are going to die and instead of worrying about death they have to live their life to the fullest and be fully prepared to die an early death. They felt that if you were not prepared to die then you could not fully live. So a Cherry blossom that has fallen from the tree is often symbolic of a Samurai who has died early in battle. In fact one of the saying that was common for the Samurai was today is a good day to die. It is not that they had a death wish at all it was more of a life wish. They knew their life was rough and dangerous and that it would end in a sudden death. In fact it was more honorable to end in death during a battle then to live to an old age. So like the Cherry blossom with its short yet beautiful life the Samurai lived in the same way