Get "Bushido" from The Last Samurai!

Over 130 Kool Kanji for tattoos
and other fun stuff

Stop! Don’t get that tattoo until you’ve
read this marvelous book!”
Barry Eisler, author of Rain Fall and Hard Rain

Designing
with Kanji

JAPANESE CHARACTER MOTIFS
FOR SURFACE, SKIN & SPIRIT

SHOGO OKETANI & LEZA LOWITZ

144 pp, 7 X 9", paper, 2-color printing
ISBN 978-1-880656-79-2, $14.95


Buy this book from:

Not only new words but whole new worlds are revealed, creative worlds where readi

CELEBRITIES WITH KANJI TATTOOS

David Boreanaz ("Angel")
Michelle Branch (singer)
Emma Bunton (aka "Baby Spice")
Dean Cain ("Lois & Clark")
David Faustino ("Married . . . With Children")
Samantha Fox (singer/model)
Alyson Hannigan ("Buffy"/"American Pie")
Janet Jackson (singer/actress)
Kelis (singer)
Jill Kelly (porn actress)
Kid Kash (pro wrestler)
Kym Marsh (singer)
Alyssa Milano ("Charmed")
Pink (singer)
Robin Quivers ("Howard Stern Show")
Lisa Seiffert (model)
Britney Spears (singer ???)
ng is pure seeing, worlds where deep meaning takes place in the spaces in between essential common things. Indispensable. An utter enjoyment.”
Gary Gach, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Buddhism

“Shogo and Leza have written the coolest kanji book I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen them all).”
Ralph McCarthy, translator of Japanese fiction

“An invaluable resource for tattooers, artists, and anyone interested in better understanding kanji.”
Horitaka, tattooer, author of Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo

“Designing With Kanji is an essential tool for any designer or tattoo artist. It is an accurate and inspirational guide for everyone integrating these characters into their life.”
Don Ed Hardy, tattoo artist

"Designing With Kanji is a goldmine of illuminating explanations into key terms and ideas drawn from the deep well of Japanese cultural experience. With a clarity that occasionally reaches toward the ineffable, Oketani and Lowitz demystify the ideographic nature of kanji in offering Western students a playful resource guide to East Asia's manifold arts and wisdom paths they will treasure for generations."
Trevor Carolan, author of Return To Stillness: Twenty Years With A Tai Chi Master

Japanese kanji characters are full of meaning and beauty. But if you don’t speak Japanese, how do you find characters that say what you want and are not just a “kanji cliché”? Here are over 130 kanji in a fun format for easy use.

Pick from The Way of the Warrior, Heart, Nature, and Spirit categories to find the characters that express your sentiments best. Then adapt the clear letterforms (in several different kanji “fonts”) to get just the effect you want. Use the kanji for tattoos or on plates and mugs, stationery, T-shirts, and anything else to personalize a present or to just let the world know where you stand!

Includes an introduction to kanji, writing tips, design ideas, and the Asian Zodiac kanji for birth years.

SHOGO OKETANI and LEZA LOWITZ are writers and translators who live in Tokyo and have
deep connections to the San Francisco Bay Area.

SAMPLE PAGES IN PDF FORMAT

Check out the kanji for:

Bushido (The Way of the Warrior)

Courage

Liberation

(or click on any page spread below)
Tom Cruise knows his Japanese!
All the characters you see
on The Last Samurai poster
are in Designing with Kanji

Other titles of interest

Kanji Pict-o-Graphix by Michael Rowley