Hello all,
I figure that this probably be put in this forum as it deals with art. For those of us who are inked, you probably have an idea about what I am going to discuss. For those who are not inked or those who are thinking about getting a tattoo, then please read on!
I’ve been trained here in Japan as a Horishi, that is, a traditional Japanese tattoo artist.
I do it on the weekends and I am aiming at making it my future sole income.
I’ve been into tattoos now for almost 10 years now and have been tattooing for a year.
When everyone hears about Japanese tattoo, some of the more culturally inclined will have one thought “Yakuza” (think of them like the Japanese mob).
Although this is not how Japanese tattoo started, it still carries the stigma here in Japan.
This is sad to me because I believe it should be seen as a national treasure, rather than a mark to be seen in fear. It is true that if you want a good and traditional Japanese tattoo, the only place you can get it is here in Japan.
There are around 130 or 140 Horishi in Japan. I will be counted among their number in a year. I believe I will be the only Gaijin Horishi living and working in Japan. But, don’t quote me on that. I know there are some foreigners working abroad that have recieved training as Horishi and are living back in their home country, but none that have stated here in Japan.
This is difficult to say because even today, it is hard to find and contact Horishi here in Japan.
A few have websites, but many are still found the traditional way; by way of mouth.
I practice this because my teacher does this. We believe our artwork should speak for itself.
A Horimono (Japanese full body suit tattoo) can take years to finish with the traditional method or by machine. It can be painful and cost the person who is getting the tattoo thousands of dollars (sometimes up to $35,000 USD).
The traditional method is requested only by a few of my customers, I am only working on two who use traditional methods (called Tebori).
Others take the more modern way and go for the machine and this is because it’s faster.
But, in defense of the old way, I think it’s like a tennis ball being served to a tennis player.
They can have a human person serve them the ball or they can have a machine.
The outcome is the same for both the human-serve and the machine-serve. Other than that, it’s two different worlds.
Once you have finished your tattoo, you have a one-of-a-kind tattoo that means alot to the person who owns it. They have endured and paid alot for their unique tattoo that stays it’s bright and beautiful self for the rest of the person’s life.
The artist’s work might live longer than he does, so that when he passes away, a part of him is still walking and breathing in the world. So, in a way, he is not dead; but still alive.
I encourage all of those who wish to get a Japanese tattoo to look into the old way of tebori. Is an art that is fading away and I don’t want to see it go. Here are a few videos on the subject:
(Their view of the history of Horimono conflict, because they don’t go into much detail of when it started. It actually started as a status symbol for Merchants and the very wealthy. A few samurai are known to have also had the Horimono design. But it soon fell into disfavor as tattoo was then used to mark criminals. The criminals then turned to Horimono to have these barbariac tattoos hidden by beautiful pictures that were tattooed over them).