Japanese Tattoos

Japanese Tattoos posts cover irezumi, the traditional Japanese tattoo style with bold outlines, gradient shading and full-back compositions built around a central figure. Articles look at the iconography of dragons, koi, foo dogs, oni masks, peonies, cherry blossoms and waterfalls, the wind bars and finger waves that fill background space, the long stigma against tattoos in Japan that still keeps tattooed people out of many onsen, the difference between modern machine work and the older tebori hand poke, and the lineage of masters like Horiyoshi III. There are also notes on the time and cost involved in a full bodysuit.