Long-term project which tries to describe time consuming and incredible expensive way of body design. Tattoo (irezumi) has a long tradition in Japan with its dragons, lions, carps and other mythical beats and animals as well as drawings of Buddha or Japanese local gods.
Topic of our project are meaningful traditional tattoos done by tebori masters of this craft. We aim to Japanese style which originate in Japanese mythology used by painters and woodcarvers. We aim to a traditional style inspired by Japanese Edo period artist and woodblock printers like Utagawa Kuniohi (1797-1861). Drawings of this man and his "One hundred and eight heroes of Suidoken, become one of the most common inspiration for traditional tattoo masters.
We aim to tattoo masters for whom Ukiyo-e (pictures of Japanese floating world), become main source of inspiration, who draw and tattoo by the same style like Edo period artists.
This is considered as a traditional Japanese tattoo and that's the art work what we try to cover.
Those mentioned tattoo tebori masters usually work from their private apartments, prefer to stay hidden and inaccessible and be introduced by words of mouth.
Our work is not just published in major tattoo magazines worldwide (UK, France, Germany, Italy, USA, Japan), but we also published a book about the state of art of tattoo here in Japan.
"Tattoo in Japan" is a 300 pages A4 size heavy coffee book, which has been published in Germany in 2008 and become "must to have" book for many overseas tattoo artists and tattoo fans.
Samples of images can be seen here.
In these days we are working on next book which will be publish soon......