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Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/4/25 01:22
I have tried searching for this but most of the threads are quite old. My situation too is a little different.

I am looking to get a traditional irezumi/ tebori tattoo done on my entire left leg. I can travel to anywhere in Japan. Anyone got any recommendations for truly traditional tattoo masters? I can only converse in English and have absolutely no knowledge of Japanese.

TIA
by anirudh412  

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/4/26 07:01
If you're really interested in getting a traditional piece, you can try and get in touch with Crystal from Gomineko books/tours (http://www.gominekotours.com/ ), she often sets up tours for tattoers visiting Japan and also helps with arraging for tattoo appointments for foreigners. She has a list of tattooers she works with on her website ( see the link above).
by Jill Julie rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/6 21:46
Tried mailing her but got no response. I have already set up an appointment with a tebori master. Will keep this thread updated
by anirudh412 rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/11 23:54
Try Horiyoshi:

http://horiyoshi3tattoo.com/

He's in Yokohama.
by Saru Bob rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/11 23:58
Ha ha! There is no way I am going to get an appointment with Horiyoshi! He is a legend and as far as I know, he is just finishing up tattooing his older clients now. He isn't taking up new projects.
by anirudh412 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/12 00:01
I don't recommend that gomineko site/person. It seems only old information on the site (artists shown have non existent myspace pages) and I know several people who have tried contacting her but never get a response and her Schedule of upcoming tours talks about tours in 2011 & 2012...

I think this particular tattooed lady went home...
by Ken Tanaka (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/12 00:05
@ anirudh412

Hi. That may be true. My Aussie friend got a tattoo by him done about 15 years ago and he was the one who recommended trying Horiyoshi. Even if he turns out not to be able to help, perhaps he can suggest someone who *could* help? Can't hurt to contact him to ask...
by Saru Bob rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/12 00:09
@Saru Bob

I did mail him. Actually he was the first I mailed. Then as I researched more and more into the world.of Irezumi, I realized how futile it was to mail him. It would be like mailing Jim Hendrix to play at my birthday :)
by anirudh412 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/12 00:12
@Ken Tanaka

Yes, I agree. Every information on their site is old. They even mention Horiyasu as one of the tebori artist they can get an appointment with. That seems a little outlandish. I might of course be wrong.
by anirudh412 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/18 02:26
I got traditional half sleeve phenix tattoo from Horien at Awallow Art. She only use machine but studied under the one of the big Japanese tattoo family. She speaks good English and her color workd are awesome!!

https://facebook.com/swallowart.tattoo
https://flickr.com/horien/
by Jude (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/21 23:35
Crystal has recently relocated her family back to the US.
Yes the site is outdated but she is fine. (I buy books and Japanese wood block prints from quite often.)
But getting an appointment with Horiyoshi isn't impossible, it just takes a LOT of patience, as you said yourself the man is a legend and therefor has a long waiting list (as most proper tattooers). I'd say it's worth the wait if you're interested. But as you may know most of the old Tebori masters don't speak any or barely any English, so it can be difficult unless you speak Japanese to set up an appointment.

I'm quite interested in hearing who you're going to get tattooed by? If I may ask.
by Jill Julie rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/24 08:08
I had a similar dilemma! I'm quite picky about the quality of artwork too.

But I'm seconding Horien from Swallow Art~
Worked with her on a design that I'm very pleased with. She's very gentle and her prices are reasonable if you want to settle for machine.
by nimotsu (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/24 16:57
@jill julie

I am ready to wait for as long as it takes if it means getting work done by Horiyoshi or Horiyasu. The problem is that Crystal isn't responding to my mails.

I got an appointment with Horitoshi First.
by anirudh412 rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/24 17:16
The idea of tebori masters carving away in Japanese countrysides has always fascinated me :) Does anyone know if it's true or is it just a fantasy?
by anirudh412 rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/24 17:20
@anirudh412 She can be a little slow sometimes, perhaps you can try contacting her through her book shops email address, it's; gominekobooks@yahoo.com
She currently has a 3-4 weeks shipping time from Japan, so i expect her reply times to be between 2-3 weeks maybe.

Is Horitoshi doing the line work with machines and coloring with the traditional tebori technique? From the photos I saw at facebook it looks like that. I find the lines to be rather shaky and uneven if they are done with a machine.

But if you're okay with machine work, then Shige from Yellowblaze (Yokohama) is absolutely amazing, I've had the chance to see several of his pieces in real life and see him work.
And there's always the guys at Tree Tides in both Osaka and Tokyo (http://www.threetidestattoo.com/ )
by Jill Julie rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/24 22:00
@Jill Surely Shige has a waiting list that's at least a few years long. Besides, even though his tattoos are strikingly beautiful, they aren't traditional Japanese. Tebori or machine, doesn't matter to me. But the tattoo itself must be purely a traditional irezumi.

by anirudh412 rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/26 06:24
@anirudh412 Last I spoke to Shige it wasn't that bad, of course it depends on the size of the piece.
You're right Shige's work isn't the "original" traditional irezumi style.

I don't know where in the world you are but, you could try contacting Alex/Horikitsune (Horiyoshi III last apprentice, other than his biological son of course). There's also Henning Jørgensen in Helsingør, Denmark and Beppe Shiro (He works in Italy and Denmark mainly).
by Jill Julie rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/26 14:54
@Jill You seem to have extensive knowledge on these things. Thank you for being so helpful.

I did come across Kitsune San's work. And I checked out the artists you mentioned as well.

What originally attracted me towards Irezumi and still does is their simplicity and muted and deep color scheme. All these 'new age' artists on the other hand seem to break those rules to use a myriad of colors in their tattoos. Not to mention they make the tattoo itself so intricate and chock full of details.

Would it be so hard to find an artist who strictly adheres to the traditional Irezumi rules? Also, doesn't anyone use nara ink anymore? Surely, people must still want the kind of tattoos that were done back during the Edo period?

The only modern artist whose work stunned me is Horiyasu. But short of learning Japanese, I don't know how to get an appointment with him
by anirudh412 rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/28 23:54
@anirudh412 , truth be told I'm not too familiar with the traditional japanese irezumi's history and how things were too long ago, but I have been fortunate enough to have met a good handful of tattoers that have taught me what I know.

Well perhaps Judd Ripley at Sailors Grave in Copenhagen might be a better option than some of the others I have mentioned (Judd is an all around great guy btw) He does traditional simplified and detailed japanese work.

I personally prefer the more "new age" irezumi.
Do you mean the old sumi ink when you say nara ink? If you do, then it's mostly because they have found inks that last longer than the old ones. (Most people would probably want their tattoos to look their best for as long as possible).

My written Japanese and overall formal Japanese isn't that great, so I can't offer to help you out with that (but perhaps you can find someone here that can help you out with it) but I did manage to find contact information for Horiyasu. (Crystal is he's english booker but as she is in the US atm, I suppose it'll be a while before she has time for that).
http://www.horiyasu.com/horiyasutop2.html
by Jill Julie rate this post as useful

Re: Irezumi/ Traditional Tattoo Artist 2015/5/29 00:16
@jill
I just want a tattoo that looks like the one in Sandi Feldman's book Japanese Tattoo :) But I suppose that kind of look is impossible without using Nara Sumi.

For now I am leaning towards Senju Horimatsu. The only issue is the ticket price from India (where I am) to Sweden since I would have to make quite a lot of trips to get the work done. Japan is closer, and I would prefer it for the experience alone, but right now it seems out of question since all the artists I like (Horiyasu, Horitada etc) speak only Japanese.

Whats the time difference like if the same tattoo is done by tebori as compared to done by machine? Someone said somewhere like 60% longer! Is that true?
by anirudh412 rate this post as useful

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