Meaning of Cherry Blossom Tattoos

The cherry blossom (in Japanese, sakura) represents a metaphor about femininity in the Nippon country. It is a delicate flower that blooms for a very short period of time and falls when the wind hits it. The distinguishing feature that makes it unique is that cherry blossom falls from the tree when it is in its peak of splendor, so you will never see it wither. For the Japanese, Sakura represents the qualities of feminine beauty: delicate, beautiful and ephemeral.

Cherry blossom tattoos usually look great on white-skinned, pale-skinned girls (like redheads), because their skin tone matches the meaning of the flower.

Foto: nenuno creative

One of the meanings of cherry blossom tattoos is related to the samurai. The emblem of the samurai code (bushido) is the cherry tree flower as, for a samurai, there was no better way to die than duing a battle, that is, in its moment of maximum splendor, instead of slowly wilting it in his home.

Samurai women, on the other hand, having lost their husbands in a battle were obliged to remain faithful to them. Many times they themselves were killed (seppuku) in front of a cherry tree in her husband's honor.

Samurai warriors also performed seppuku when they breached their code (bushido) and did so under a cherry tree planted in their house.

In fact, legend has it that at first, cherry blossoms were always white, but because of these ritual suicides they absorbed the samurai's blood and turned pink.

This is why a cherry blossom tattoo also indicates the aspiration to a noble and intense life, full of ephemeral and beautiful moments. It also symbolizes the ability to live the present, to take advantage of each day as if it were the last. When tattooing a cherry blossom you will carry with you the sign of the way of life the ancient samurai warriors lived.

The meaning of cherry blossom tattoos can vary in its symbolism. Among its meanings, the most beautiful, has to do with a traditional ritual of Japan - where they worship this flower - but is currently celebrated wherever there are cherry trees .

The flowering of the cherry tree is short and ephemeral. It lasts approximately two weeks, between the end of March and the beginning of April. During these days, people gather under the cherry trees to contemplate their beautiful flowers. And formerly, in Japan, Hanami was used to propose to women, since it was the only moment in which courtship was allowed.

Coinciding with the spring equinox, the flowering of the cherry tree (and its observational ritual, Hanami) augurs the beginning of new sentimental relationships and therefore, the tattoo of a cherry blossom is also a sign of fortune and prosperity in love.

In Japanese culture, the beauty of the soul can be seen through the beautiful things you do. For the Japanese, the moment of death is very valuable and the way to do it, hence the ephemeral symbolism of the cherry blossom, its momentary beauty and its fall.

If you also like small things and value beauty in details, you can tattoo a cherry blossom to indicate that you see what others do not see: the real value of small things, which are present in a moment and then disappear (the smile of a stranger, a gentleman walking slowly with his dog, the sound of the sea, the plastic bag in American Beauty ...).

Foto: Men's Tattoos Ideas

As you may know, cherry blossom is also a recurring theme in Buddhism. According to this religion, a cherry blossom symbolizes life itself and its ephemeral state. So if you want to ink a cherry blossom tattoo on your skin and believe in the knowledge that Buddhism has to offer, it can also signify the knowledge that you are in this life as a passing process, so you have to cherish it and live it in balance.

At oneHOWTO you can also learn the meaning of other flower tattoos such as the meaning of a rose tattoo or the meaning of a dandelion tattoo too.

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