A: They all have Japanese tattoos!

Japanese tattoos are cool. Of course, if you have money to burn like any of these ladies, you can afford to hire a professional translator to pick out perfect character combination. But if personal translation is out of your league how can you avoid becoming a kanji fashion victim and get stuck with a tattoo you will really regret?

1. Know difference – hiragana, katakana and kanji

Before you talk to your tattoo artist, make sure you know what you are talking about. You say you want a Japanese tattoo, but what do you know about Japanese characters? You need a quick stint in 2-minute Japanese boot camp.

First off, let’s be clear that there is no Japanese “alphabet”. There are three sets of Japanese characters – hiragana, katakana and kanji – and each group has its own history, function and style. Get your head around these facts and you will already know more than 99% of people walking around with Japanese tattoos right now:

Hiragana – These simple, rounded characters represent sounds, but have no independent meaning. They were developed by women in Heian period and are still considered feminine by Japanese people.

Katakana – Developed by Buddhist monks around same time as hiragana, these are simple, angular characters that also represent sounds and have no meaning of their own. You saw them cascading down screen in Matrix (although they were backwards!)

Kanji – Originally from China, these characters are like pictures, representing a meaning and also several different sounds depending on situation.

Just reading this has probably given you an idea of which style you might like for your tattoo – but don’t stop just yet! Now you know what kinds of Japanese characters there are, let’s move on to…

2. Writing styles

Come a bit closer. Lean forward towards screen. That’s right. Now, look at words in front of you. Take a good, close look at shapes of these letters. OK? Now tell me honestly: Would you want a tattoo in Times New Roman? How about Tahoma? What’s that? You don’t want a tattoo by Canon or Epson? Sure you don’t. And in same way, you don’t want to have your Japanese tattoo looking like a printout either!

So, now we move on to writing styles. Just like there are three kinds of Japanese characters, there are also three ways they can be written. Don’t worry. This is easy! I know, you are thinking that you can’t even read Japanese, so how on earth will you be able to recognize these different styles? Well, try this:

Kaisho – Block letters. You learned to write your ABCs like this, and Japanese kids learn to write their characters in just same way: Like a Volvo – boxy but good.

Gyousho – Cursive letters. You moved up to middle school and learned you could write faster by letting parts of some letters flow into next. Yes, you guessed it - Japanese do same thing, and they call it gyousho.

Sousho – Super-cursive letters. Ever seen a prescription from a doctor? Then you know what sousho is like in Japanese: Sure, writer or some other trained person can (probably) read it, but no one else has a clue what it says!

Are you getting picture? If you want to look like a computer printout, then be my guest and go for kaisho style. That’s your choice. But I think you probably want to use either gyousho or sousho for your tattoo. My personal preference would be gyousho: It’s stylish, but it won’t leave even native speakers baffled.

3. Real or fake?

Remember I mentioned Mel C at beginning? Well guess what kanji she got tattooed on her arm? That’s right – “Girl Power”: Great in English, but show this kanji combincation to most Japanese people and you’ll get a blank look at best. Want a worse example? Try “big daddy”. Now, you know what it means in English, but put it into kanji and you end up with “large father”! It just doesn’t work.

How, you ask?

If you want to try your hand at snipping scissors for savings, first you need coupons! The best source for coupons is in Sunday newspapers. The inserts are tucked in middle with advertisements.

With cost of a Sunday paper usually ranging from $1.00 - $1.50, it is a good investment with sometimes hundreds of dollars worth of coupons. And can you believe most people throw them away? Ask your friends, relatives and neighbors to save inserts for you. Be on lookout for businesses who subscribe and leave papers around for customers to read (ie Gas Stations, Laundry Mats). Check recycling bins. "Dumpster dive" if you have to.

On Monday, ask your newspaper carrier and stores if they have any leftover Sunday papers that didn't sell. Vendors usually only have to send in certain parts of newspaper (ie heading) of those that didn't sell to get credit for unsold papers. But they still have coupons inside!

Unfortunately around Holidays, coupon inserts aren't as plentiful. So, you may want to check Newspaper in Newsstand on Mother's Day before searching couch cushions for pocket change. And not all Sunday newspaper carry same inserts. Some may have one, and another three. And even if they carry same inserts, amounts of coupons may be different! It is common that coupons have a higher dollar value in an urban area over a rural area.

More ways to obtain coupons is directly from manufacturers. Call toll-free number on your favorite brands asking for coupons. Telling them first how much you like their product is a good introduction to your plea. Most will be happy to mail you coupons. Also check out to see if product has a website. Email them or use their contact form to inquire. Don't forget to include your mailing address.

Look over your empty canned goods labels and boxed food items before throwing them in trash. Usually you can find a toll-free number to call (see above) on package. Some packages also adorn their own coupons good on their next purchase. And many companies are now participating in Boxtops for Education and Campbell's Labels for Education, so take a second to cut out little symbol for school of your choice. Those 10¢ add up fast when many people save, and all schools, public and private alike, appreciate them.

Also look for "hang-tags" on items in store. Some will say "Save $$$ now" and if you read print, it does not have to be used on only that certain item. Look for hang-tags on wine, as some offer $$$ off soda, meat or produce, with NO alcohol purchase required.

Another plan to acquire coupons is to beg, borrow or steal from other couponers. Ok, maybe not steal. Barter. If you don't know any coupon locales, you can meet them through Refund/Coupons Magazines and Internet Chat Boards. It is prohibited to actually sell coupons, but you can "purchase" coupons from Coupon Services who charge a "handling fee" per coupon (for their time to cut, sort and mail). You can even bid on coupons on eBay!

The newest way to add coupons to your collection is to print them directly from internet to your printer (ie FreePrintables.net)! Some stores have yet to accept these thinking they are counterfeit. But printable coupons are definitely wave of future. Many sites make you register first, and your name may even appear on coupon or are barcoded with your information. Others may only let you print one or two of same coupon before you get a "Sorry you've already printed your quota for that coupon" message.

Once you have your coupons, it is best to have some rhyme or reason to them, so it is easier to find coupon you want when you need it. You can use a simple recipe box with dividers, a three ring binder with divided pages (like for baseball cards), or you can even buy a "real" coupon organizer.

Then you need to categorize your coupons within your organizer. There are several ways people sort theirs. The most simple way is to organize by generic classifications (ie Baby, Pet, Frozen Foods, Dairy, Paper Products, Health & Beauty, etc). Another way to sort is by expiration date. Couponers with thousands of coupons file full inserts by name of insert (SmartSource, Valassis, Proctor & Gamble) and date that it came out.

Make a date once a month with your coupon organizer to weed out expired coupons. This can be done easily while watching your favorite show on television. Your kids can even help. If you have an extra stamp to spare, mail those expired coupons overseas for the deployed military to use at commissaries. Some commissaries accept coupons up to six months after expiration date.