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Tattoo Designs of Japan - Horiyoshi III

Regular price $250.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $250.00 USD
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By Horiyoshi III / Yoshihito Nakano

With an introduction by D.E. Hardy

A beautiful English language book of illustrations by Horiyoshi III that includes notes for each illustration plus a glossary for the Japanese vocabulary.

Yoshihito Nakano was first inspired by tattoos when he saw a Yakuza (Japanese gangster) with a full-body tattoo in a public bathhouse as an 11-year-old boy." This inspired him to visit legendary tattoo artist Yoshitsugu Muramatsu, also known as Shosai Horiyoshi of Yokohama. Nakano got his first tattoo from Horiyoshi II - Shodai Horiyoshi's son—and this experience led to him becoming Horiyoshi I's apprentice at the age of 25.

Horiyoshi III is the second tattooist to be granted the honorific title, which passes from master to apprentice. Muramatsu bestowed this title upon Nakano in 1971. The tattooist affixation  Hori  means to engrave or "to carve."

The creatures I draw only come alive on somebody's skin. This is why I never show my designs as so-called art. I draw simply for fun and to have samples to show my clients so they can pick a new design. The creatures depicted take the person's breath away once they are on his or her skin — and then the two start breathing together, in unison. Human history alters the look of the animals and plants I paint, and when the person wearing them dies, so too do they. 

— Horiyoshi III, Words to Live By, The Japan Times Online

Hardy Marks Publications, hardcover, 8.25 x 10.85 inches, 80 pages.