Jisho.org Forum

I was thinking of just getting the kanji for fire for all of the things that fire represents but i thought id check first on this.....

火による判断 would mean "a judgement by fire", but I have no idea if it represents what you mean by "trial by fire" at all. I think my translation means both a judgement handed out BY fire, and a judgement enacted through fire... regardless, just because it sounds cool in English doesn't mean it makes any sense in Japanese. I recommend getting a proper Japanese tatoo if you want that, instead of a translation. Really though, I don't think anyone should get a text tatoo unless they wrote the text themselves and it means something to them. It makes no sense at all to tatoo a translation into your arm if you didn't even make the translation yourself.

火の試練 (hi no shiren) is what I found using the internet. A lot of hits for a quest in Final Fantasy XI.

I would say two things:

1. Keep it simple.

2. Get a Japanese tattoo artist to do the work. That way he can advise you on the real meaning of your chosen kanji/phrase, and he'll definitely write it correctly (unlike some non-Japanese artists).