I Spent a Day with Japanese Tattoo Artists

[00:11] tattoos it's something you hear all the time on the internet and although there is maybe some truth to it it certainly gets pushed very hard by both Japanese locals and international Travelers and that may be because uniquely Japan has

[00:27] another famous subculture that is closely linked to the idea of tattoos that gives it that rather negative stigmatization Yakuza as insane as the phrase if you have tattoos in Japan people will think

[00:41] you're a Yakuza may sound out of context it's genuinely surprising and shocking just how much this almost Rumor Mill has existed within Japanese culture even through this thick veil of miscommunication and overreaction but

[00:55] over in the west getting a tattoo is seen as something that is celebrating the individual and in some instances as normal as getting your ears pissed so

[01:08] why is it not the same in Japan so I decided to get to the bottom of it all by putting myself in the shoes of the artists who give tattoos and the customers who get the tattoos are any of the stigmas surrounding tattoo culture

[01:21] in Japan actually true why do these stigmas even exist in the first place and at the end of it all will it convince me to get a a tattoo of my own let's find [Music]

[01:38] out but before we begin a quick word from today's sponsor Sak Rocka you guys they've been sponsoring the channel for about a year now but in case you missed out let me explain Saka is a monthly Japanese Artisan snack box that supports

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[02:06] of Sakura cherry blossoms the one thing that everybody looks forward to as Springtime rolls around in Japan and we have a bunch of Sakura themed snacks goodness you can try something sweet for example some Sakura mju I actually

[02:21] freaking love Sakura mjus a lot oh this one's so cute oh my God look at this one m on the inside the paste in there is absolutely Divine each box comes with its own tea pairing as well naturally being the season of Sakura we're going

[02:36] to have some Sakura tea which I will say with any kind of Sakura flavored snacks this is the best kind of tea to pair it with they didn't put this on accident this is to really enhance that taste palette you feel me boys and as

[02:49] mentioned earlier every sakurako box comes with its own special table wear as well this month we have this beautiful Sakura printed glass each box of course comes with with its own booklet that has a bunch of information about the Box

[03:03] itself the snacks inside of it and other information like allergen information all of that and so much more in this month's Sako snack box so what are you waiting for boys go down to the link in the description below to check out Sako

[03:15] on screen right now you can get yourself a little bit of a discount at checkout a big thank you to Sako for sponsoring today's video now let's get on with the show before anything let's address one very common misconception about the

[03:28] history of tanto in Japan a lot of people think tattooing culture started with the Yakuza but that's actually not the case at all archaeologists have found pottery and figurines depicting people with tattoos and even preserved

[03:40] remains of humans with tattooed skin that date back as far as the German period some 10,000 years ago now granted during this period of early Humanity tattooing was most likely used for Spiritual reasons such as shamanistic

[03:55] rituals similar to other cultures around the world like the mar New Zealand the nuba people of Sudan and even the ancient Egyptians it wouldn't be until much much later in the Edo period that tattoos within Japanese culture started

[04:09] to become more commonplace yet complex often being used on criminals as a form of branding to mark them as offenders and used as a symbol of Shame one might look at this fact and go oh so that's why the Yakuza are brandish in all of

[04:24] these lavish tattoos it's because they were criminals of course well it's interesting because criminals weren't actually the ones who inspired Yakuza tattoos now if anything it came from an occupation that was Far From Any

[04:36] criminal activity one that actually went out of its way to save lives on a daily basis the source of inspiration was from firefighters fire hazards and arson were

[04:48] fairly common during the Edo period and firefighters or hii was seen as a noble occupation especially back then so much so that many hikeshi would brandish their family CED or code of arms onto their uniforms and sometimes directly

[05:04] onto their bodies in the form of giant arm or back tattoos Not only was this a sign of Devotion to the hikeshi family one would be associated with and a croud status symbol to show to the common folk but it also had a very important

[05:19] practical function of identification in the unfortunate case that a hikeshi would lose their life in a fire the family crest tattoo would ultimately be used to identify an individual even if the rest of their face and body was dism

[05:32] morphed and unrecognizable certainly a morbid reason but the Yakuza absolutely fell in love with this idea so much so that they decided to copy it for themselves and use tattooing as a symbol of Pride and Devotion to their Clans and

[05:46] thus the once positive and prideful image of tattooing that used to exist very quickly turned into a negative one within Japanese culture but even during the more negative modern times there are those who have been dedicated to the

[06:01] craft of tattooing right here in modern day Japan for many many decades

[10:58] [Music] m

[12:50] opinions from people with tattoos I wanted to get a different perspective on being a tattoo artist more specifically from the Western World so I flew all the way to Los Angeles California to talk to a prominent tattoo artist helping to

[13:05] bring Japanese culture to the West how long have you been doing the whole long have you been doing the whole tattoo thing uh this year is 12 years 12 years is that long for like a tattoo I I think a lot of people do it uh for life

[13:18] so I've met people you know in their 60s that are still tattooing oh damn especially uh in Japan I think a lot of a lot of artists you know it's just kind of like the way of life once you start yeah yeah yeah for sure sure and I guess

[13:30] I like I wanted to interview you because you have basically been like The Pusher of like anime style tattoos and like Pokemon tattoos and stuff right yeah I think it all started with uh clients kind of like just giving me more freedom

[13:44] and it's it's a you know subject matter that I'm really into so I think throwing out the ideas and them being cool with it is honestly it's been see you you put it that way but you I feel you're being awfully humble about the position you

[13:58] massive fan of your stuff as well has been wanting to get a t from you for ages now she was like really excited when she was like oh is this like you're meeting Dan right like that's sick as I'll tell her I'm not as cool in person

[14:11] you've been to Japan a couple times now uh yeah this would be my fourth time coming up you've kind of seen I guess the tattoo culture or I guess let say the lack thereof the tattoo culture as a tattoo artist yourself what do you think

[14:25] about that difference in culture I think it's really interesting especially being based in La feel like it's it's more rare to see someone with no tattoos out here they're kind of like the outlier the first time I went to Japan I I

[14:38] self-conscious of how tattooed I was you know you kind of look out at everyone if you're in a crowd and being the only tattooed person it's just so strange yeah that's true I feel though like especially in like places like sh

[14:53] starting to see a lot more younger people with like tats and stuff definitely yeah the first time that I went I saw maybe two people actually two two people exactly I remember exactly what they look like I do CU cuz it was

[15:05] so rare and uh this last time we went I was definitely seeing more and more uh youthful tattoo people which is cool have you done any like tattoo work for like Japanese mov before yeah I mean I uh I tattoo anyone who emails me that

[15:23] wants to get tattooed so yeah yeah yeah I wanted to get your uh I guess input on it's a new change when it comes to like laws surrounding tattoos uh in Japan this like massive court case that happened with this tattoo artist in

[15:38] Japan apparently he got in trouble because up until that point uh Tattooing in Japan was considered like a medical practice and he didn't have a doctor certificate right um and so there was this whole contexture of like okay well

[15:52] is tattooing considered like a surgery or like a medical practice right um and so he went all the way up to court to basically fight and luckily he won the case so now in Japan tattoo artists don't require like aop certificate or

[16:05] any kind of like you know PhD or doctorate or anything like that um what do you think though about just that whole debacle of like that even happening I remember hearing about that and I actually saw a lot of U I guess

[16:19] going to they're going to require every tattoo artist to be a doctor and I'm looking around my peers like none of us are going to be doctors dude uh so when uh when he won the case I thought it was great you know because

[16:34] tattooing especially in Japan I think has always uh has always been sort of like taboo and underground and counterculture and I think that there are like some parallels to Tattooing in the US you know it used to be bikers and

[16:48] like Pirates you know nowadays like it's not just about branding yourself and anime like you can get something that you love or that you know kind of helped like mold your Youth and you can carry that with you as a good reminder you

[17:03] know it might remind you of your friends or just the best times so I think it is a positive thing what do you think about the persisting rules concerning tattoos in Japan like for example you can't go into a hot spring for me as a foreigner

[17:17] I think when I go I try to just be as respectful as possible and if that's the culture you know I try to approach it from a place of like understanding do you think uh in your eyes Japan will ever get to the point like it is in

[17:31] America with tattoos where it's like if you have them then it's all good it doesn't like affect anything in your life or it doesn't affect anything in restrictions or anything like that I think if it does get to that point I

[17:45] anime tattoos are going to have a huge part in that I've noticed that even just part in that I've noticed that even just within like the past maybe like 5 10 like Western countries like I feel there's a lot of people now getting like

[17:59] and stuff like that I would say before that people were still getting anime tattoos but I feel it wasn't as common place as it is today right um have you oh definitely yeah when I first got into anime was kind of right at the same time

[18:17] that I was like starting to look at girls you know and it was something that watch anime don't tell her you play Pokemon I'm trying to be cool and and now it's like it's it's totally different I think that uh social media

[18:32] probably plays a pretty big role in that I guess to end it off like um if you I guess to end it off like um if you could address the entirety of the Japanese population when it comes to tattoos and how you feel about them what

[18:45] is something that you would say to I guess address that particular uh situation that we're in when it comes to Japan and Tattoos I would say that beauty is Skin Deep if you take the time to get to know someone there's not

[18:59] really any difference the i' would say the only difference is that when someone bit more about their personality you know be like scat likees Demon Slayer or or whatever it is but um we're just people yeah I I've totally agree with

[19:15] that sentiment as well all right um well it was awesome talking to you man thank you so now that I finally have a better understanding of tattoo culture from the artist's point of view the question now remains what do the people with tattoos

[19:30] actually think about the changing tattoo culture here in

[21:01] in America oh it's like chill like if you don't have a tattoo you're a weirdo like not really but like nowadays like every person has a tattoo it's kind of you don't have one there's like I'm

[21:16] moment or like most of the time it's people who are like afraid of commitment cuz that's always like the thing or like I haven't found something nowadays like starter like at a bar like especially for me cuz I have anime tattoos people

[21:31] are like yo is that Demon Slayer or whatever and then like then they show me their shitty tattoos I'm joking I'm joking it's usually a lot of like like very traditional style tattoos but now you're seeing like wacky Styles and

[21:45] people are going out of like the uh the normal textbook tattoos and now you see normal textbook tattoos and now you see some really cool

[26:07] of people who don't have tattoos say to people who have tattoos it's this argument of yeah but it's going to be on you forever dude like not really though on you forever it's like you can get them lasered off yeah it's going to hurt

[26:21] like a bit but like it's never forever once you get one I feel like a lot of more and more to the point where it's like like I might have some on my body liked this something different or placed differently but I don't really care I

[26:36] of using this documentary as an excuse to get a second one yeah exactly don't scared to just like tattoo whatever like I know a lot of people are always like yeah this uh this one is like a grandfather clock cuz represents time

[26:50] and it's like dude just get whatever like this piece I have on my uh my arm posted and they're like I want to tattoo this and I'm like that looks cool I'll this and I'm like that looks cool I'll do it like why not

[28:53] about the Japanese tattoo culture from the perspective of someone who's not Japanese it's weird for me cuz I get kind of uh both ends where like if I'm at a bar and sometimes I'll have people recognize anime tattoos and they're like

[29:06] oh this guy's chill and they talk to me like oh tanid and like all the girls were like oh my God Mikey from Tokyo Avengers I even had a guy who's well into his 50s noticed my JoJo Tattoo and he's like you are very cool and he

[29:21] cockyoin and I'm like all right this guy's Bas but on the flip side when I'm in public like the trains sometimes I'll avoid sitting next to me sometimes and I can tell it's like they're a little you

[29:34] know little intimidated intimidated maybe and maybe that's just cuz of how I dress how I look whatever and that's fine like I'll notice like there's people are just like I'm going to sand instead of I mean that may also just be

[29:47] like you know the guing seat as they call it you know true like you could be completely clean of tattoos and it might still happen that's true but I think like I don't think the tattoos are don't help um it's funny cuz I'll make people

[30:00] like break character sometimes like I went to get like a phone case and uh the employees like you know doing all their and they're like is that Ace on your and they're like is that Ace on your fingers I'm like yeah and they're

[33:03] what was your first tattoo it would be this the uh the ship from cowboy bbop and then I ended up adding more to the arm and it was always like anime manga themed mostly manga the left side of my body is all like anime stuff and then

[33:17] the right side I'm just doing kind of traditional work but uh yeah it was just like I got one and then I just got completely addicted cuz it's always the it hurts like really bad like what if I had tap out like what if I look like a

[33:32] that was easy what was the most painful one I'd say none of them were really like super painful but there was a part that was like behind my my leg here that like I had a Kani written like super bold thick brutal brutal worst pain ever

[33:47] I've heard from other friends who have tattoos um that where it's like the skin is kind of close to the Bone so like fingers Knuckles fingers are pretty brutal I did actually is one thing I'd recommend to some people is numbing

[34:01] spray or numbing gel I didn't numb my hand and this is something I should I want to mention to anyone getting tattoos is don't let the old heads of tattoos like scare you into like not getting what you want it's really

[34:13] like no you must feel pain it's like shut the like who cares I numbed up my pressure of like the needle in your bone which was like weird but then I noticed I didn't like put enough so as soon as

[34:27] like he went to this side I'm like that [Music]

[35:26] [Music] for for

[36:31] tattoo artists here in Japan and also in the states would you say that there is I guess a negative aspect to the tattooing culture in either country I think in America it's super like again it's like they old heads of tattoos they like like

[36:43] to gatekeep [\h__\h] which is really cringe it's like you must feel pain no numbing it's like all your tattoos must have meaning like it's cringe like I I think that's slowly going away as for Japan I know a lot of artists here and they're

[36:56] all like chill it's almost like whatever you want I think they just appreciate that you as maybe like a foreigner want to get a tattoo here cuz I think that's the time when you're getting tattooed you're getting something from their

[37:08] style like so they just appreciate you coming and getting something that's from coming and getting something that's from their like portfolio

[39:04] current like weird stigma that Japan has as a whole around tattoos is going to change over time oh definitely yeah for sure I think with the amount of foreigners and tourists that come in that are like you know tatted up I think

[39:17] and be like oh that's cool like I want to get a tattoo and you'll probably see like tattoo shop Sprout like up like everywhere and I think that's going to be really cool cuz I think you'll see some super wacky cool tattoos come out

[39:31] in Japan very soon I think the most awesome part of the tattoo world is that each individual does it for their own individual reasons much like appreciating any medium of art whether

[39:44] appreciating any medium of art whether it be movies or music anime or games it be movies or music anime or games tattooing is a personal journey and now it's time I guess for all of you watching this video to come along on my

[39:57] personal Journey next so come with me to Oraka the western part of Japan to meet the man who will be giving me my tattoo for today so I guess first question I want to ask is how long have you been Tattooing in Japan for about 20 years

[40:11] now 20 years and I assume in those 20 years the tattoo scene in Japan has just completely changed it's yeah it's pretty different than it was one of the major there's a lot more tourists that are coming through Japan the demographic of

[40:26] social media has changed everything there's kind of more of an awareness now uh that you know tattoos are not relegated to you know the Yakuza that they're not some kind of a thing that you get to get like marked for life I've

[40:40] least in my mind you've always been known as like the guy who does like the know it's true like I'm sure that's how a lot of people know Benny but like what kind of tattoos were you doing before you started doing the more anime style

[40:54] tattoos yeah I mean so this is back in like maybe 2000 and 2 2003 when I started apprenticing it was all like really like Japanese style tattoos like phoenixes you know those sorts of things a lot of flower motifs so when abouts

[41:08] did that shift change to like the more I guess otaku Centric uh tattoos I think in the beginning it was more of a uh Hey wouldn't it be crazy if like a what if somebody got a tattoo but it was you know there was like a Gundam you yeah

[41:22] almost like that I it would be more like we would practice drawing as well right flipping through each other's sketchbooks and it'd be like a little like fun drawing before you know it yeah that's when uh we started kind of

[41:34] experimenting with it what's the most common type of like otaku style tattoo would be popular in the moment uh like of course there's some characters that the top three countdown but I think it was Rey from Black Lagoon he like yeah

[41:47] that's based one question I wanted to ask is why did you pick or suaka to do was one of the first cities I ever visited in Japan and I really fell in visit was like 1998 1999 somewhere around there and

[42:02] I remembered that I knew a couple of these tattoo guys I was like man like when this teaching contract is done like that's where I want to go this is maybe maybe just like my kind of uh way that I view it but I feel like people in Oraka

[42:15] maybe or there's a culture in Oraka that is maybe a little more geared towards tattooing and like that kind of like subculture yeah I think people in Kai chilled out some say Rough Around the Edges but uh you know I think it's

[42:29] thanks to the people of conai that you know somebody like me could be you know know somebody like me could be you know welcomed and accepted so I used

[44:05] tattooing would you say that the types of people you have tattooed have changed oh yeah 100% how's it changed I mean back in the day it was it was like that you would like meet out at the bar people that would wander into the studio

[44:18] and people you lots of Word of Mouth back then uh but of course social media has completely shifted that Dynamic uh and then once you start proliferating on you know places like Instagram and Tik Tok then of course people send tend to

[44:31] see your work and they're coming there specifically for your pieces so a lot of me now are people who are they probably already have like a familiarity with what I do what do you think about the I guess ongoing stigma that the general

[44:45] tattoos and tattoo culture I mean of course there's a cultural stigma that that you know goes back a long long way and of course with the proliferation of of media you know in the ' 60s and70s uh with a lot of like Yakuza movies and

[45:00] and manga whenever you need shorthand in fiction for a bad guy you give them a tattoo and uh I think now that the culture is definitely shifting do you miss or have you ever wondered what it's like to go into an

[45:13] onen yeah I mean those rules can be annoying and silly uh especially when it you know people like I don't want to look at it I don't want my kids exposed just been around in the culture for so long I don't even think people really

[45:25] what would you say to those people I guess those more like traditionalist people who have that traditionalist idea idea about tattoos for example like my mom who is Japanese who was probably watching this video my mom does not like

[45:39] tattoos at all uh she wanted to kill me the first time I got a tattoo uh and I've always been curious as to why those people think that way why why do you you know again I think it's just like how you're raised you know when

[45:53] thing and then again when you've grown up like you know consuming media where just gets gets in there and so I I guess what I would suggest to somebody you it but then you know there's been other

[46:06] I've been on the train or I've been in some random place and like just like a like I'm an old person too but like a really old person right it's like going like oh like those are nice tattoos right so and I I think there's people

[46:20] find it interesting and don't think in stereotypes and then I think some people those stereotypes those that short hand that they use is is how they live their that they use is is how they live their lives

[47:10] it maybe super insensitive how can I say insensitive based and confident yeah yeah she's met your based

[47:22] of I'm sure you've done thousands and thousands of tattoos in your career what thousands of tattoos in your career what has been the most memorable tattoo in either a good or a bad way oh my God I don't want to put

[47:35] anybody on blast and some of these are so hypers specific like somebody would or if you don't want to be hypers specific maybe like a specific like type of tattoo maybe pretty recently I did a piece for somebody it was uh it was a

[47:50] what you would say about it but his wife had passed away okay and this was like they had had really bonded over like watching like this vtuber together and with something that was like in their prefecture and so he had gotten this

[48:04] character like with the background that was associated with this place where they lived and uh like it was a very like emotional moment for him and uh you that I have a lot of really good stories like that you know a lot of people who

[48:18] have brought uh something very touching in their lives uh something that meant something to them I guess yeah don't judge a tattoo just by looking at it cuz every one or maybe not you know some people just get tattoos for the sake of

[48:31] couldn't buy a PlayStation 5 because of the chip shortage so I got you know you got a t on your leg stand not having one I jumped in the deep end and and got my whole uh body worked on even though this

[48:43] is one cohesive bodysuit uh the forearms only are by two separate artists uh so this is by uh hor shig from uh Yokohama and this is by for z theii uh who is in nagawa here in Osaka they're both completely different styles but they are

[48:58] balanced the same way so you can see one dragon has the mouth open and one has the mouth closed which is like an A and an n and Alpha Omega kind of a symbolism really respect and because they're on your forearms I mean you look at them

[49:13] like every day when I look at them too it it you know it keeps me humble and these tattoos are like 15 16 years old that like they hold up amazing like they in them like I've learned a lot just by looking at these tattoos so yeah these

[49:29] have a you know a very significant memory for me but uh yeah oh yeah and memory for me but uh yeah oh yeah and then you also have I do have an eus yes here too I think I've got an Aira pill down there that one's actually sick

[49:42] though this is like my apprentices first tattoo what is a red flag tattoo oh [\h__\h] any white power bull I mean really beyond anything like hate speech like what would I be like H like um maybe might be certain anime

[49:57] characters that you're like oh or they've got the same character but it's like you know like hundreds and hundreds of times I don't know maybe they just people who get cultural tattoos when they have no knowledge of that culture

[50:11] yeah so I think this goes back to the age-old uh discussion over what's cultural appreciation right uh which is a complex topic if someone asked me to I don't know tattoo something with hongou or something I mean yeah it would be

[50:26] like oh like it's like this looks sick and it's like it says wanton you know I I admittedly I have a kanji tattoo I got taka and noro here tattooed by one of my friends and one of her famous lines in the anime is djo

[50:42] yeah right and so he put it on the sides of the design and what ends up happening though is like when I'm like walking around like with my shorts down right like there's just one poking out and it's like people are like oh CH car for

[50:56] power it's oh boy that's not exactly what that was about but I guess that's all I need to know but right after this um I'm going to get tattered by you yeah one yeah thank let's go up and get it done draw don't draw a on me pleas hand

[51:11] it [\h__\h] [Music]

[51:33] that's all going over there God damn that's a lot any last words sorry Mom [Music]

[52:01] [Music] yay Pon P finally got the P Pon Tas yeah thanks dude hell yeah that looks safe yeah I got to help you ink settle so there you this will keep uh your tattoo from being exposed to the elements it

[52:16] doesn't have to go to the trouble of making a scab it can just immediately start healing so you might see a little bit of kind of black lymph like piling liquid gross but it's totally normal I don't know if you got that the same yeah

[52:29] I got I got it with this okay so it's actually sorry I OV explained that to no it's good it's good we need it for the video a little bit of so when you finish you dump the extra excess liquid into a pouch and that's your forbidden compre

[52:51] [Music] s well as you can see it's been a few months since I got my Pon tattoo and uh yeah I think it came out pretty well look admittedly this probably won't be my last tattoo I'll be getting but it

[53:04] will be the last time I film it here on a video for you guys because again tattooing is a personal journey and I think that's what makes it kind of awesome the point of this video isn't to necessarily encourage you the audience

[53:18] to get a tattoo of your own I mean look if you want to then cool great go for it completely fine as well all the differing viewpoints about subcultures is I think what keeps a subculture and an art form alive and well and healthy

[53:34] and I hope you guys at least learned something new about the tattooing experience here in Japan so a big thank you for watching um I guess let me know what you guys think of my new tattoo and uh big shout out to all the people who I

[53:48] interviewed for this particular video I will leave all of their socials down in the description below and hey I guess regardless of whether you have tattoos on your body or not let me know your thoughts and opinions on the tattoo

[54:01] subculture in Japan I think it is an incredibly contentious and interesting incredibly contentious and interesting discussion to of course you know start and have a healthy conversation about obviously keeping everything open-minded

[54:13] so make sure to keep the conversation healthy down in the comments below but brand new tattoo thank you guys for watching this video and I will see you watching this video and I will see you all in the next one Johnny