Most Japanese speakers will first register 剛 (gō — unyielding strength) as a masculine given name, before considering it as a trait. That initial read is strong enough to create a moment of pause — the character sits comfortably in the space of men's names, and that association does not fully disappear even once the tattoo context is clear. When Japanese people see 剛 as a tattoo, the gut reaction is a sense of strength, sometimes followed by a slight ambiguity. ...