Hide Ichibay creates line-perfect tattoos in an Oriental style, drawing inspiration from classical Japanese paintings and illustrations. Like many traditional Oriental art works, Ichibay’s tattoos contain a wide range of textures. Some areas contain bold, flat colors while other areas are textured with intricate patterns.What is impressive about the patterned areas of Ichibay’s tattoos is [...]
Traditional Japanese tattoo art, known as irezumi, is created by repeatedly stabbing a “brush” of needles into the skin, as shown in this video. The artist repeatedly stabs the brush into the client’s skin to create the design, in this case a large koi fish. As you can see in this video, building up a [...]
Yakuza tattoos are a source of fascination for many tattoo lovers. The high level of secrecy surrounding the tattoos, combined with the painful method of “hand-poking” the designs and the association with the Japanese underworld gives yakuza tattoo art a mysterious appeal. The History of Japanese Yakuza Gang Tattoos The history of the yakuza [...]
National Geographic takes a look at the link between the historical tradition of tattooing prisoners in Japan and the full body tattoo suits worn by members of the modern Yakuza gangs.
Anime is a style of Japanese animation that has become popular around the world. The characters in Anime are based on manga characters, with large eyes, small mouths and unusual hairstyles. The characters are often brightly colored – they may resemble humans but their skin, hair and eyes can be a rainbow of hues. The [...]
Goldfish are a form of Asian carp that have been bred for centuries to have specific physical characteristics. Since around 10 AD, fish keepers in China and Japan have coupled spawning goldfish with similar traits to create a wide variety of different goldfish breeds. One of the most popular carp varieties for use in tattoo [...]
Dragons are mythical creatures that appear in fairy tales and fantasy novels. Although dragon tattoos have their roots in traditional Asian designs, there has been a recent rise in popularity of dragon tattoo designs, due to books like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson, and the appearance of dragons in film media [...]