At a small, clinically-lit studio in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, fearsome warriors and mythical creatures glare out from paper drawings lining the perimeter of the space. The tattooist here, who asked ...

While plenty of tattooers struggle to find a solid unique style using a machine, some of the most advanced artists in the world are focused on tattooing techniques that predated modern coil and rotary ...

Meet the master tattoo artist who must hide his life's work from the world. Because of cultural taboos about the art, Choshu Horikazu must cover his tattoos while in public in Japan.

For Horimitsu, the sound of needles painting skin is a soft, rhythmic scratching, like a solitary cricket - "sha, sha, sha". For 30 years he has tattooed by hand in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, needing nothing ...

In Japan, tattoos have a long history. In the 16th century during the era of the samurai, laws prohibited merchants and others from showing off their wealth by wearing expensive silk kimonos. Instead, ...

From starkly rendered waves crashing over a shoulder to a stern samurai warrior wielding a sword on one’s back, the striking designs expressed in Japanese tattoos are among the most iconic in the ...

A Japanese tattoo artist appearing at an international convention in Belfast this weekend has called for a change in the law of his home country. Kensho The Second (38), from Saitama, has been a ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

THE sudden enforcement of a little-known law has sent shockwaves through Japan. And many tourists are contributing to this practice. That’s the upshot of a landmark court ruling in Osaka this past ...

This is Horiyoshi III, one of the world's most legendary full-body-tattoo artists. His given name is Yoshihito Nakano, but he inherited the title Horiyoshi, which is derived from the word hori, ...

Once the sign of a hardened criminal, Japan’s taboo tattoos are winning a legion of new foreign fans. Once the sign of a hardened criminal, Japan’s taboo tattoos are winning a legion of new foreign ...