Like fine Japanese calligraphy, a tattoo captures an instant for all eternity. There is no going back, no doing it over again, no erasing of someone`s mistakes. . . . .

Ryugen’s methods are also steeped in history. In fact, he is one of a small number of Japanese artists still practicing the ancient tradition of “tebori” (literally “hand-carved”) tattoos.

A tattoo shop is easier to find – Three Tides in Shibuya, Tokyo, for example – and they’ll have a number of artists, so you’ll easily be able to get what you want.

Japan's Bunshin Tattoo Museum in Yokohama is dedicated to the work of Yoshihito Nakano, who is better known in the body art world as Horiyoshi III, a master of traditional Japanese tattooing. The ...

In a tiny, cluttered room in Yokohama, Horiyoshi the Third has been perfecting his brand of irezumi – Japanese full body tattoos – for five decades.