I’ve studied the Japanese form and style since before apprenticing. It’s a style that lends itself well to tattooing, large or small. Its imagery is mysterious, exotic, and full of subtle meaning. The richness of content is endless. My connection to Japanese tattooing was fostered by traveling to Japan to meet tattoo masters, getting tattooed by them, and by hosting them in my home when they visited. I also soaked up an enormous amount while working with Dustin Bones at Five Fathoms Tattoo in Vernon BC. That little shop was the heart of tattooing in the Okanagan for years, attracting clients from Kelowna, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and abroad.
It’s not a style that many understand well and should not be executed by the unknowledgeable.