Lady Gaga shows off new tattoo

NEW YORK: Lady Gaga marked her recent trip to Japan with a very permanent souvenir - a tattoo stretched across her left arm.

The Poker Face singer had a quote inked onto her forearm in a late-night session at a tattoo parlour in Osaka, Japan earlier this month (Aug09).

The curling script, written in German, is attributed to the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who the star has named as her "favourite philosopher".

Gaga explains, "It says 'In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?'

"When you are an artist, your solitude is a lonely place that you embrace."

The pop star is currently touring Asia to promote her debut album, The Fame.