Say you want Japanese symbols characters for tattoos that you want to be printed on your body. I mean, how else can you hide the fact that you had your ex-lover's name inked on your wrist but still not seem like a demented and stalker ex boyfriend, right? Or more so, how else can you have your mother's name printed on you is a "cooler" more hip way?
Thing is, the danger in having Japanese style tattoos is that since you have no idea how the language goes, you are not assured on how the characters should be. I mean, the odds of choosing a symbol that you fancy that may mean something positive but you end up getting it printed on you inverted are very high as that is one horror story I have heard about Japanese character tats.
Another boo-boo that may occur is that you use an online translation site that converts a word for you to Japanese. Anything free online is usually BS so it is highly likely as well that your translation could go wrong.
And if you do go to a Japanese restaurant and ask a waiter to translate things for you, he may not be able to understand what you really mean and give you a translation so far off, you wish you'd just stuck with the online translator.