Here are some popular subjects of Japanese shirt sleeve tattoo designs:
Koi fish - Koi fish are beautiful and vibrant. They look great for sleeve tattoo designs! Dragons - Japanese dragons sometimes look more fierce and vicious than their European counterparts. You can have a fierce dragon tattooed black or red in your sleeve. Samurai warriors - Samurais are exclusive to the Japanese culture.
You can however incorporate other Japanese designs, styles and symbols onto it.
If there is sufficient space, in between your pieces of body art, another great idea to sleeve your arm is through tribal tattoo work. The current trend is toward black and grey work, as a full sleeve, and you will see a number of famous people proudly adorned with this type of work.