If you love creepy manga that crawls under your skin, getting a Junji Ito tattoo feels like a secret handshake with the weirdest corner of horror fandom. Ito takes ordinary things — spirals, smiles, even cats — and twists them into images that stick with you. If you’re thinking about committing one of his nightmares to skin, here are twenty pieces that made me do a double-take (and then immediately save them to my inspiration folder).
When Tomie Meets the Hannya Mask
Credit: wallaceherrera
This thigh piece mixes two kinds of beautiful-but-deadly: Tomie’s haunting, perfect face and the Hannya’s twisted jealousy. The fine linework of Tomie against the mask’s demon features makes this feel like a rumor you shouldn’t repeat out loud. The pop of red flowers? It’s violent and pretty at once — life and blood wrapped in one image.
Slug Girl — Gross in the Best Way
Credit: juhcapirama
This one puts the slithering horror front and center: a girl’s face becoming something slimy and wrong, with a slug slipping out of her mouth. It’s textbook Ito body-horror — impossible to look away from and somehow impossible to forget. If you want a tattoo that makes people do a double take, this is the move.
Tomie Losing It — A Half-Sleeve of Madness
Credit: montinhx
This half-sleeve captures Tomie in full unravelling mode: wide, wild eyes, hair and lines exploding outward like a panic you can see. There’s a violent energy to the strokes that pulls you into her spiral — perfect if you want a piece that’s dramatic and a little unhinged.
Beauty and Terror Side-By-Side
Credit: belzebubtattoo
This design pairs Tomie’s serene face with the jagged, demonic Hannya — a clean visual about contradictions. It reads like a little story: calm, almost pretty on one side, and something ruthless hiding on the other. If you like tattoos that whisper a narrative without saying a word, this one nails it.
Tomie’s Quiet, Dangerous Gaze
Credit: meara.tattoos
At first it looks peaceful — Tomie, calm and composed. But the longer you stare, the more you realize that serenity is a mask. This upper-arm piece is for people who want subtle horror: understated lines that hide a real edge, just waiting for someone to notice.
All Eyes on the Creepy Details
Credit: ink.ray
This one is a little comic-panel study of eyes — four close-ups, four different kind of dread. Eyes are such a Junji Ito thing: windows not to the soul but to something far worse. The way these panes are arranged gives you that disjointed, creeping sensation like reading a page where everything slowly falls apart.
Ito’s Cats — Cute but Not Really
Credit: orion.ink
If you know Ito’s Cat Diary, this is the wink to that softer side — except it still gets weird. Think a hand getting nibbled by a cat with wild, manic eyes: it’s adorable until it isn’t. A sweet reference turned slightly monstrous, and honestly, that contradiction is so Ito.
Spirals That Pull You In (Uzumaki Tribute)
Credit: lindt.ink
This is classic Uzumaki energy: a hypnotic spiral curling into an eye and dragging the whole piece inward. It’s mesmerizing and unsettling at the same time — the kind of tattoo that feels alive and slightly dangerous.
Insect-Human Mashup — Elegantly Grotesque
Credit: anaschmitt3
Delicate wings meet a human face and the result is pure Ito — beautiful linework, weird proportions, and an eerie smile that doesn’t care how you feel. It’s creepy chic: unsettling but oddly graceful.
Pretty on One Side, Monster on the Other
Credit: _via_saru
A deceptively simple piece: clean lines and a serene face, but a close look shows a split — human and something else. Minimalist horror works because it leaves space for your imagination to do the heavy lifting, and this one does that perfectly.
What’s Under the Skin (Literal Reveal)
Credit: owbonez
This is the gross-out reveal in the best Ito tradition: a chest opened to show writhing ribs and innards, rendered in stark, chilling lines. It’s visceral in a way that makes you admire the craft and then immediately want to look away.
A Smile That Doesn’t Belong to Anyone
Credit: almtattoo
Nails through teeth, a grin stretched too far — this face is a small, clean nightmare. It’s simple but the contrast between that grin and the empty eyes makes it lodge in your brain. Perfect for a bold, striking piece.
A Red Star Full of Madness
Credit: y.o.u_tattoo
A red star sliced across the skin but textured like it’s alive — inside it are swirls and a peering eye. It’s geometric but chaotic, like a symbol that’s trying to eat itself. Elegant but unnerving.
One Eye, One Tiny Visitor
Credit: guyeigel
A massive, veiny eye stares out while a tiny ladybug crawls along the lid — the innocence of the bug next to the grotesque eye makes a weird little joke, except it’s not funny. It’s the kind of ironic detail Ito would love.
Eyes That’ve Seen Too Much
Credit: fiorile.ttt
Minimalist and chilling: a panel of staring eyes with linework so crisp it makes the gaze feel accusatory. This is for someone who wants horror that whispers instead of screams.
A Leg Collage of Nightmares
Credit: brad_le_laid_tattoo
This leg piece is chaos in the best way: Tomie, surreal forms, fragmented panels — all stitched together like someone’s fever dream storyboard. If you want a conversation starter that also doubles as a full narrative, this collage is a flex.
Spiral Eyes and a Spiral Heart
Credit: sophiemoillustration
A woman with hair coiled into Uzumaki’s spiral and a chest that’s all swirling mass where a heart should be — the heavy black shading mixed with delicate face lines gives it this beautiful, disturbing balance. It reads like obsession literally eating someone alive.
A Shadow That Won’t Leave You Alone
Credit: swamplost
A broken, tired figure with a tall, dark silhouette looming behind them — it’s the visual equivalent of that feeling when you know something’s following you but you can’t see it. Pure Ito atmosphere.
Candlelit Grin and Quiet Madness
Credit: petronellatattoo
Candles on a head, nails through a mouth, a placid grin — framed like a comic panel, this piece feels like you’ve caught a private, unsettling moment mid-story. It’s ritualistic and calm and absolutely unnerving.
Pastel Chaos Meets Tomie
Credit: luniechan
Bright pastels, hearts, flowers — and Tomie’s half-transformed face peeking through. It’s playful and grotesque at the same time, which makes the contrast scream Ito. If you want weird and colorful, this one proves those two things can absolutely coexist.
Wrap-Up
A Junji Ito tattoo is never just a picture; it’s a little story you wear — messy, beautiful, and a little bit terrifying. If you’re drawn to the way his work makes the ordinary feel wrong, any of these pieces could be the perfect way to make that feeling permanent. Tell me which one had you doing the slow double-take — I want to know which nightmare you’d take to the studio.