100 Japanese Tattoo Designs By Horimouja Pdf Free
Jen Ronnfeldt
In many ways, since I started out, my style had changed drastically. The first tattoo convention that I went to was held in Detroit in 1996 and it was there that I met Hanky Panky. He asked me if I wanted to go to his tattoo convention in Amsterdam and as I had only been tattooing for about a year, I was pretty freaked out at the prospect, but excited at the same time. So I went, and that was probably the best thing I ever did! Whilst at the convention, I saw a guy who was covered from head to toe in tribal designs, real tribal, and I thought that was the coolest thing I had ever seen. This was so inspirational to me and from that moment on, I dedicated everything to studying and perfecting that style.
In my opinion, you have an incredible look, but for some people you may appear a little extreme. What kind of reactions do you generally get from the public, and how do you feel about those reactions?
I do tend to work a lot of conventions, mainly in Europe, as I like them better than the American ones. 2008 was my first year attending the London Convention; man, there were a lot of great artists there, I just wish I had more time to visit them.
The first time I visited a tattoo convention was the Art Tattoo Show of Montreal in 2007. I was fascinated; I passed hours looking at everything and I spent all the money I had to buy 2 books by Horimouja:
These books cost me 300$ which was a lot for someone working part-time at the minimum wage as a wrapper in a supermarket. I spent days studying and observing every drawing, every line. I decided there and then that one day I was going to get tattooed by Jack Mosher.
Fast-forward to 2009; I made an appointment to get tattooed at Body Armor Tattoo, his studio in Kalamazoo (MI). It was a 12-hour drive to get there. I went with my girlfriend, Virginie and my childhood friend, Patrick. A great road trip to get tattooed by one of my idols! I was exited and nervous.
I really appreciated my time spent in Michigan. Watching Jack work and talking with him made me realize how much I could learn from him. I decided to let him do my back-piece, the biggest canvas on the body.
Each week, I would leave Sunday at 6:00 PM after my shift in a tattoo parlor to drive to Erie, PA. I would get tattooed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I would leave Wednesday night and make it back Thursday in time for my shift. More than 60 hours of tattooing has gone inside this tattoo in just a couple of weeks.
A common misconception is that all tattoos are frowned upon in Japan. This is true only for Japanese people wearing tattoos, they mostly do not really care about outsiders having tattoos. This tattoo snobbism dates a while back, during the Edo period (1600-1868). During those times, tattoos were used to mark criminals of their petty crimes (ex: stealing). Petty crimes would not require a death sentence, but the authorities would mark the criminal with a visible tattoo to warn the population. This type of punishment was called Bokukei. After time, groups of criminals (like the Yakuzas) would seek out tattoo artists to get their bokukei covered by elaborate and beautiful tattoos.
Tattoo artists, called Horishi, started to make complex tattoos with colors and designs. Based on Japanese woodblock prints, they would create a piece of art on the skin of their client. This is where a second word for tattoo came to be: Horimono (which means tattoo).
Today, the word that is most used to design tattoos is Irezumi, which is a general term for tattoo. Irezumi is mostly used to design simple tattoos as Horimono is used to design large and elaborate tattoos.
Yobori is traditional tattooing like we know it. Done with an electric tattoo machine, this type of tattoo was imported to Japan by Americans. Yobori refers to the classic tattoo styles such as Old School, New School, Neotraditional, etc. everything that refers to the occident.
Wabori was invented in Japan and is what we call Japanese style. Based on woodblock prints and classic Buddhism imageries, wabori regroups everything that is Japanese in a tattoo. Wabori is tarditionnally done by Tebori (by hand).
Before electricity, Tebori was invented during the Edo period by Horishi to cover-up bokukei (punishment tattoos) with elaborate horimonos. Tebori is done by putting needles at the end of a bamboo stick. The ink is inserted in the skin by a thrusting motion done by hand by the Horishi.
Having fewer artists doing tebori tattoos, there are certain myths around this mysterious practice. Some believe that a tattoo done by tebori is magical and protects the wearer because the artist puts his entire self in the tattoo, like a talisman. In Japan, a tattoo done by tebori has a bigger spiritual value than a tattoo done by a tattoo machine.
But keep in mind that not every type of tattoo can be done by Tebori. Usually, the tattoo style associated with tebori is Traditional Japanese tattoo because this style has a lot of flashy colors, not a lot of shades and bold lines. It would be impossible to do a portrait by Tebori.
Tengus are known for their great skills in martial arts. They train intensively in the mountain, like Shaolin monks. In combat, they are as good or even better than any men. Only a rare few Japanese warriors have had the chance of training with them. Some stories say that after years of training, master Tengus can achieve teleportation and telepathy.
Tengus also enjoys playing tricks on wanderers lost in the forest. They can fly and transform at will. They are little rascals; their straw coat can make them invisible. They make themselves visible only to those they judge worthy of their presence. During my third trip to Japan, I had the chance to climb Takao-San, which is known as the Tengu mountain. Unfortunately, I did not encounter a Tengu. ?
The Dai Tengu is the chief of all Tengus. He resembles a Yamabushi Tengu but is even more humanesque in appearance. He is the wise sage on top of the mountain. He is the strongest and smartest of all the Tengus.
The dragon is by far the most famous mythological animal. Its appearance varies from a region to another and it also varies in time. For example, everyone is familiar with the medieval dragon that looks more like a lizard, while the Chinese dragon looks more like a snake.
Traditionally, the dragon has the wingless body of a snake, the head of a camel, the antlers of a deer, the eyes of a hare, the ears of a bull, the scales of a koi, the paws of a tiger, the claws of an eagles and whiskers.
The dragon can be seen in tattoos paired with the tiger. The dragon reigns in the sky, while the tiger dominates the land. Together, they are two very strong creatures that represent the balance of power. The dragon can also be paired with a phoenix, which would represent union in love or in rivalry. Like in the Yin Yang symbol, the emperor would wear the emblem of the dragon (masculine), while the empress would wear the emblem of the phoenix (feminine).
The symbol of the dragon (and of the snake) is one of wisdom and protection. Associated with water, Edo period firefighters were the firsts to get dragon tattoos as a talisman against fire. Dragons are also known for their strength, intelligence and compassion.
Usually they are tattooed with a background of clouds which symbolizes immortality and eternal youth. They can be seen holding a round jewel: this pearl lets the dragon travel through realms. The orb is also said to contain the spiritual essence of the universe and symbolises wisdom and luck.
Ryujin is the God of the sea. He is a majestic dragon that can control tides with a magical jewel and he lives in a beautiful palace at the bottom of the sea. There are multiple tales involving Ryujin.
Yamata-no-orochi is an evil, eight-headed dragon who would terrorize a village. Each year, he would devour a young girl. Susano-o, God of the storms, managed to kill him and found in his dead body the famous Kusanagi-noTsurugi, the Japanese version of the Excalibur.
Tattooed people and tattooists know that they will still be stigmatised because of their ink. Banks, schools and companies will still have a negative attitude towards them. Nevertheless, they are very happy to see the government take a step in the right direction.
After that, I had 2 days of tattooing to get done on my arm. Shige did the inside of my upper arm: ITAI! (痛い), meaning OUCH in Japanese! Once again, I took the time to appreciate being at Yellow Blaze studio and discuss with Shige.
Since I had 2 more sessions of tattooing to do with Shige at the end of my trip, I took the rest of the time to do more sightseeing. I went to see the Ghibli Museum of Mitaka, because I love the work of Hayao Miyasaki. I also went to the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo, which was fun, but it was more for tourists, no Japanese knew about this restaurant. I also visited the Hokusai museum in Sumida. This museum made me understand more the essence of Japanese tattooing. We must not forget that Japanese tattoos art based on Ukiyo-e. And there is no greater Ukiyo-e artist than Hokusai!
Of course, I visited more temples. I climbed Takao-san which is the tengu mountain! This place is great for tengu references, and once at the top, you can see mount Fuji. I also went to Nikko which is known for all the dragon references you can see. Nikko is very famous for its dragon paintings on the ceiling of the temples. If you ever have the chance of going to Nikko, I recommend 2 things: First stop to see the dragon painters in the little stores while going up to the mountain. Second, stop to eat yuba, which is a traditional Japanese tofu very famous in Nikko.
For the second part of the trip, I headed to Gifu which is in the region of Chūbu. I had an appointment to get tattooed by Tomoya, a tattoo artist friend I met a couple of years ago. He was going to do my first ever tebori tattoo. I let him choose the design and the subject of the tattoo. He took in account the time of the year and my life goals to create this piece of a Daruma doll in a kite. Indeed, since we were in spring, he decided on a kite because children play with kite in spring. And he chose a Daruma doll to represent my life goals.
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