Horiyoshi III (Yokohama Tattoo Museum)

My name is Jamie and I live in Vancouver, Canada. I plan to make a trip to Japan sometime near future. My main reason to go there is to get tattooed by the Master Horiyoshi III. I wanted to find out as much information regarding the topic before I make my trip. How to arrange a appointment so when I go, I do not get there and he says he can not work on me at this time. I heard you have to make appointment six months in advance. How can I go futher with this? How do I arrange to have this done, I want to get a sleeve with the chest panal. If he can not do it, would one of his students progress with it? If so, how do I set this up ahead of time so when I arrive in Japan I can almost instantly get to work. Can someone fill me in on as much details regarding the topic? Thank you!

Hi...
I'm in the same situation...I'm planning to go to Japan on June 2009 and I would like to get an Irezumi from Mr.Horiyoshi III...
Jamie did you get there?
Did you get your Tattoo?

Thanks in Advance
Andreas

I was tattooed by his apprentice Horitaka, a friend of mine, who is based in San Jose, Ca. I remember him mentioning that Horiyoshi is not tattooing as much as he used to. His sons are picking up much of the slack though. i would expect to wait a minimum of at least a year to get an appointment.

Hi.
I have been to Horiyoshis museum, met his wife, but I didn't get to meet the man himself or get tattooed by him. The museum is amazing if you have any interest at all in Irezumi. Well worth the visit. He doesn't take appointments by the internet so you have to either call or send a letter. When I talked to his wife she said there was a 3 month wait, and that he doesn't do tebori (traditional hand tattoing) much anymore. I'm not too sure if he can speak English, but I read that he feels that if people want to get tattooed by him, they should try to communicate with him in Japanese. But if you can't get an appointment with him, there are many great japanese tattooists around; Catclaw Tattoo in Kyoto, Chopstick Tattoo in Osaka, Trick or Tattoo in Nara etc.
Even if you can't get an appointment, I recommend the museum. You can buy all of his amazing artbooks there (108 Demons, 36 Ghosts etc) as well as large prints and t-shirts.

Hello very late to this question, but I am posting anyway because this forum has been very useful for me in the past and I am grateful!

About Horiyoshi III sensei -- I was tattooed by him in 2007 and know for sure that he is not taking on any new customers, only finishing his existing work. This is the official line anyway, and I've seen some smaller (ie half sleeve coverage) pieces he's done but on friends and the like. His son is now tattooing so if you contact him through Horiyoshi III's clothing line website, I think that is the best way. In the US are his previous apprentices at State of Grace. In Europe is his long time apprentice Alex Rienke. More information here:
http://www.holyfoxtattoos.de/horiyoshi.html

The museum is always open, but Horiyoshi III does not tattoo at that studio upstairs, only in his other 2 studios in Yokohama.