meanings of Miyavi's tattoos (english)

Excuse our "not the best - english", but we want to make it, that every international Comyv can read it!

On various fan sites Miyavi's tattoos have already been analyzed and explained, but there are many pages also incomplete and the newer ones wasn't added. Therefore, let us here make the effort for you. Enjoy! :)Note: There may be still hidden little errors. In addition, the meanings / translations are often difficult or far interpretable- what it might mean for Miyavi, will probably be his secret. But should you discover a little error or know something which is missing, let us know!


Many thanks to our hardworking COMYV helpers from twitter!
@CoMiyaviWW @Katyamena @RUIGUITARIST @_Chrysalide @Mad_Solar_Witch @Grand_jete_



some more source (but incomplete):
http://comyvz-crew.com/en/miyavi/articles/tattoos.php
http://annaxmiyavixhyde.tumblr.com/tagged/miyavi-tattoo

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generally about his tattoos:

different interview statements:

JaME: Why are all your tattoos black?
miyavi: All the other colours have been erased by the rain. (laugh) (JaME Interview 2006)
JaME: Your tattoos are all black. Why don’t you have any in color? Or do you?
miyavi: Actually, they are not designs. They are all messages. I think I might have some of my lyrics put on my body." (JaME Interview, 04/2009)


In Tattoo Tribal Magazine:

• "My tattoos aren’t really a collaboration with a tattoo artist, they’re words and thoughts and symbols that are important to me. My skin takes the place of a note book. [..] so one day I’d like to get some of my own lyrics tattooed so they’ll become art. Because my lyrics are my way of making a record of my life as I live it."

• "I think that my reasons for getting a tattoo are always really instinctive like that. When something happens I can remember back to when I got a certain tattoo, and kind of go back to the way I was at that time.”

• "It’s kind of weird, but as Japanese, people don't really ever get things like ‘Ore’ or ‘Ware’ tattooed, you know?* The way that you always seen foreigners with the kanji for ‘spirit’ or ‘friendship’ or somethig on their arms. (LOL) But whether it comes to tattoos or music, I want to be completely unique. Whether it’s my make up or my clothes or my guitar playing, I want to make people go, “What is this? Is it rock? Is it funk? Is it hip hop?” I think the reason why it’s making an impact on the market outside of Japan is that it can’t be confined to a single genre, and when it comes to creating a new scene, ‘Samurai Guitarist’ is an important keyword for me. Like, I fight with my guitar, instead of with a sword.”
  *Because this form of "I" is really cheeky/impolite in Japanese.

JaME Interview 2009:
http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-1054-exclusive-interview-with-miyavi.html
Tattoo Tribal Magazin (translation):
http://oritsu-luv.dreamwidth.org/815451.html

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HANDS:

 
right wrist: 「ΜΨΩ」
left wrist: 「382」


Both stand for his name MIYAVI.


ΜΨΩ= MYV

3 = 三 = mitsu;
8 = 八 = yatsu;
2 = 二 = futatsu (vi)

382 = MIYAVI


We wrote about it in German before here, but at the end of the text is a link to an english page:
http://comiyavigermany.blogspot.de/2013/12/miyavi-382-erklarung.html

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right hand: 「Dué le quartz」

name of his first band.  He got it on his 20th birthday when the band had broken up.

To the Tattoo Tribal Magazin he said:
“I got the band’s name because I wanted to remember the motivation I originally had to be a musician. I always wanted to be an artist that could become worldwide, and that was my first band that I joined when I came to Tokyo at 17... The future is basically an accumulation of the past, but I think that it’s also the future that decides the past, so I never want to forget my past. They say that ‘success is built on failure’, and I do think it’s true that it’s only after you succeed that all your failures start to have meaning. I doesn’t matter how, but if I succeed, this band will become something really valuable."


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ARMS:

right wrist inside: 「二千十一三十一」
it's the date 2011.3.11. (date of the big earthquake&Tsunami in Japan)


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left forearm: 「凛 悼 赦 戒 侭 在 然」

Thanks to Ҡѧҭңỵ @Katyamena @twitter for the help!!:

凛 1: cold; frigid; bracing/2: dignified
悼 lament
赦 forgiveness
戒 admonition; commandment
侭 as one likes - (It can go with the 我 on his right arm (as many of his tattoos actually are pairs) to be read as 我侭 (egoism)
在 exist
然 so; like that; in that way, natural
在然 together can be translated as "be yourself"
Some more interesting: the first and last together 凛然 can read as "awe-inspiring"


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left forearm:

「Born from love, and forever shall it lie beside you.」
「Always share the fruits of happiness with all whom may ever cross your path.」

His tattoo for Lovelie.
Miyavi said about it: "The tattoo I love the most is the new one I got for my daughter because of two reasons. The tattoo says “love me” because I picked a name for my daughter out of love and also I hope my daughter will always be loved by people. I hope fans will also be able to feel the love. I wish happiness for everyone." (Interview with Sohu Entertainment, 12/2009)

Original Interview:
http://yule.sohu.com/20091207/n268738845.shtml
English translation:
http://misfitmisfit.livejournal.com/4348.html

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right shoulder : 「天上天下唯雅独尊®」- [Tenjou Tenka Yuiga Dokuson]

A Buddha phrase, in originally 「天上天下唯我独尊」, but he changed ‘我’ into ‘雅’, his Kanji. It can be translated as “I am the one and only. In heaven and on earth.”
It was his first tattoo, he got it with 19. To the magazin Tattoo Tribal he said:
“It was a period where I was feeling really disheartened, and really struggling with the gap between what I wanted to do and what I was actually doing, and I thought about leaving the band and dying. So I went by myself to Okinawa to try to go back to the drawing board and decide whether I really wanted to die or not. It was on that trip to Okinawa that I got my first tattoo: “天上天下唯雅独尊”. (“I am my own Lord throughout heaven and earth”) . It’s taken from a saying by Siddhartha, and “唯雅” is actually written “唯我”, but I changed it for my own name so it would mean “There is no one above or below me.” To show that I have to face myself head on. I got the tattoo to show my resolve not to stop playing music, and not to let myself be beaten by anyone, even my weaker self.” (He said the same in the FREEWORLD Interview, what we translated in German before.)


English translation of the Tattoo Tribal Interview:
http://oritsu-luv.dreamwidth.org/815451.html


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left shoulder: 「俺」- [ore]

one of the many japanese "I", Frequently used by men. It can be seen as rude depending on the context. Establishes a sense of masculinity. Emphasizes one's own status when used with peers and with those who are younger or who have less status. Among close friends or family, its use is a sign of familiarity rather than of masculinity or of superiority. It was used by both genders until the late Edo period and still is in some dialects.

Japanese pronouns:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_pronouns

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left upper arm (spiral):

「Close your heart to every love but mine」
「hold no one in your arms but me.」

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Left arm: 「空即是色」- [kuu soku ze shiki]

A line from the Heart Sutra: “Emptiness is nothing more than body.”


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 right arm: 「一生涯凡人也」- [isshougai bonzin (=bonnin) nari]

"All my life I’m just a man."


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left arm: 「4 」
In japanese you read the 4 as "shi", "shi" can also stand for the kanji 死 (dead).
Miyavi himself said about it to the Tattoo Tribal Magazine:
"I also have a few numbers tattooed on me. The first ones I got done were 4 and 9. I got them because those have always been unlucky numbers for me. When I was a teenager one of my very dear friends passed away, and I got them because to remind myself to accept everything that happens even the things like death and disasters."

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right shoulder + forearm: 「我」- [ware]

(me/I/my) Used in literary style. Also used as rude second person in western dialects.

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right forearm: 「 More haste, less speed. 」
from his song "POP is dead".

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right arm: 「色即是空 」- [shiki soku ze kuu]

a line from The Heart Sutra: “Body is nothing more than emptiness.”

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right arm: 「9 」

Here are 2 meaningful opportunities:
In Japanese the 9 read like [ku], the same reading like the kanji 苦 (suffering) or: it could stand for Miyavi's birth month, the september.
Miyavi himself said about it to the Tattoo Tribal Magazine:
"I also have a few numbers tattooed on me. The first ones I got done were 4 and 9. I got them because those have always been unlucky numbers for me. When I was a teenager one of my very dear friends passed away, and I got them because to remind myself to accept everything that happens even the things like death and disasters."

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left arm:Two arm-orbiting beams. Details not known. As a joke circulated among the fans the rumor that he "do it, to live out his masochistic vein" ;)
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left arm: 「侭」 - [Mama]

"as one likes"

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right arm: 「奏」 - [sō]

"to play a instrument"

more readings: kanaderu, susumeru
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A5%8F


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right arm: 「 X X X 」

His age. X is the roman numeral for 10. So in his 20s he had XX, since he turned 30 he wear a third X in the middle of this both.


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right Arm  「弾 + 斬 」

Miyavi put 2 Kanji together to this sign.

Thanks to @Mad_Solar_Witch @twitter for the photo:

Meaning of this 2 Kanjis:
弾 *Dan, tama- Bullet, shot, shell
*hazu(mu) - bounce back, be excited or generous
*hi(ku) - playing a string instrument (in his case a guitar)斬  - "zan" or "ki(ru)" - means "to cut to kill" or "to slay"
There are different readings of the kanji, it's not known which reading he mean, so we have all us known readings given. But with another kanji they find a meaning, so simply scroll down ;)

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left arm: [Ksitigarbha]

Like the signs on the left and right on his upper body (we explain it a bit below) it's from the SiddhamScripture. It means " (odhisattva who looks over children, travellers and the underworld".

Siddham alphabet:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha%E1%B9%83_alphabet

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stomach: 「Don’t hesitate & Go」

a line from his song “POP is Dead”


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chest:  「un-do 」

"undo"

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chest: 「不退転 」 [futaiten]

"determination, conviction"

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upper body:

Symbolism from the Siddham Scripture.
The Siddham scripture is usually dominated only by initiates priests and  it's part of the Indian Brahmi script. The Sanskrit word is transcribed in Japanese with "shittan" (Japanese 悉 昙) and literally means perfection. The Siddham scripture is a precursor of the Devanagari. Siddham is now used only by the Japanese Shingon Buddhists and is no longer in use in the origin country India. In Japan you can find them in form of Gorintō ("Stupa of Five Rings") often on gravestones.


His Tattoos have this meaning:

Thanks to Ҡѧҭңỵ @Katyamena @twitter for the help!!:

the alphabet:
http://www.visiblemantra.org/alphabet.html
about Gorintō:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorint%C5%8D

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chest left side:  「刀」 - [Katana]

The Japanese sword. This Kanji have a "partner", too: 刀 and 弾+斬 (the coined word that he made on his left arm) can be read as ‘to cut with a Japanese sword’.

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chest right side: 「音」 - [Oto]

"Sound"

Also this kanji complemented well again with the others, along with 奏 (right arm), it can be read as "Playing a sound / play an instrument." The right arm is the one that also slaps on the guitar ;)
When you connect all the newer tattoos, (刀 / 弾 + 斩 / 音 / 奏) you might can say, "the samurai,  who leads his sound/music like a sword and so 'fighting' with it" (something like that once was said in an interview, remember his words in the tattoo tribal magazine above).

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BACK:

back : The Heart Sutra:

「観 自在菩薩行深般若 波羅蜜多時、照見五蘊皆空、度一切苦厄。舎利子。色不異空、空不異色、色即是空、空即是色。受・想・行・識亦復如是。舎利子。是諸法空相、不生不滅、不垢 不浄、不増不減。是故空中、無色、無受・想・行・識、無眼・耳・鼻・舌・身・意、無色・声・香・味・触・法。無眼界、乃至、無意識界。無無明、亦無無明 尽、乃至、無老死、亦無老死尽。無苦・集・滅・道。無智亦無得。以無所得故、菩提薩埵、依般若波羅蜜多故、心無罣礙、無罣礙故、無有恐怖、遠離一切顛倒夢 想、究竟涅槃。三世諸仏、依般若波羅蜜多故、得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。故知、般若波羅蜜多、是大神呪、是大明呪、是無上呪、是無等等呪、能除一切苦、真実不 虚。故説、般若波羅蜜多呪。
即説呪曰、羯諦羯諦波羅羯諦波羅僧羯諦菩提薩婆訶。般若心経」The Heart Sutra, in its Japanese form (the Hannya Shingyo), is often chanted by Zen groups before and/or after a meditation sitting. It’s ideal for this purpose because its concise length (less than 300 syllables) makes it easy to memorize.


English Translation:
“Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, meditating deeply on Perfection of Wisdom, saw clearly that the five aspects of human existence are empty, and so released himself from suffering. Answering the monk Sariputra, he said this:
Body is nothing more than emptiness, emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty, and emptiness is exactly body.
The other four aspects of human existence — feeling, thought, will, and consciousness — are likewise nothing more than emptiness, and emptiness nothing more than they.
All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies, nothing is pure, nothing is stained, nothing increases and nothing decreases.
So, in emptiness, there is no body, no feeling, no thought, no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind.
There is no seeing, no hearing, no smelling, no tasting, no touching, no imagining.
There is nothing seen, nor heard, nor smelled, nor tasted, nor touched, nor imagined.
There is no ignorance, and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death, and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering, no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom, and no wisdom to attain.
The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom, and so with no delusions, they feel no fear, and have Nirvana here and now.
All the Buddhas, past, present, and future, rely on the Perfection of Wisdom, and live in full enlightenment.
The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra, the highest mantra, the mantra that removes all suffering.
This is truth that cannot be doubted.
Say it so:
Gaté,
gaté,
paragaté,
parasamgaté.
Bodhi!
Svaha!”
[The Last sentence  means “Gone, gone, gone over, gone fully over, Awakened! So be it!”]


English translation from here:
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/heartsutra.html
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Sutra
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back:  「李」 - [Lee]

His korean name.

He said about it:
"finishin the tat on my back now. w/ appreciation to my dad n ancestors. g job dude. [note: he shared the photo with his tattoo artist.] hi my name is MIYAVI LEE-ISHIHARA. I used to hate my dad. but since I became a dad of 2 girls, I was kinda able to start understanding him. so I put my Korean name on my back.”  (Miyavi via Twitter, August 2012)

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LEGS:

right leg: 「粋」 - [Iki]

"aesthetics, chic"

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iki_%28aesthetic_ideal%29


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We thank you again for the additions by other Comyvs!
Still found an Error? Is something incomplete? Do you know some more interesting interviews about the tatts for us? Then feel free to write to us!

Please don't use it on other pages without asking. Give the link to this page. It was hard work for all involved COMYVZ! :)

Bitte nutzt diese Tafel nicht für andere Seiten ohne Nachfragen. Gebt den Link hierzu an. Es war eine Menge Arbeit für alle Beteiligten! :)

GERMAN/DEUTSCHE VERSION:
http://comiyavigermany.blogspot.de/2013/12/miyavis-tattoobedeutungen-deutschgerman.html