Inked In Asia

Minogame

2008-02-27T15:23:00.009+09:00

This was sent to me via e-mail. It was done by Gakkin at Harizanmai. Kyoto, Japan.

A testimonial from the owner of this tattoo...

"The tat is a minogame, which is a creature from Japanese mythology. I've wanted it for a long time, and am really happy with how it turned out. From the time a few months ahead of my visit that I got him by email, to the actual pain filled five hour session, he was nothing but professional, enthusiastic, and flexible
in getting this done for me. His studio, his designs, and his skills are first class. I'm planning on spending many of my hard-earned pennies there in
the future."

Voodoo Mask

2008-02-27T15:18:00.001+09:00

My latest addition. "Voodoo Mask" Done at Art Magic. Fukuoka, Japan

Brenda's Girl

2008-02-27T15:15:00.002+09:00

Done at Noel's Tattoos. Boracay, Philippines

A Korean Singer

2007-05-10T09:33:00.000+09:00

Recently, Korean Pop singer, Kil Gun paralyzed traffic in Thailand during a photo shoot. The sexy singer has a couple tattoos.

The Music Angel

2007-05-01T15:53:00.000+09:00

A friend of mine had this tattoo done on Khao Sahn Rd. in Bangkok. He worked with the artist to come up with the design. Wanting to have something representative of his trip to Thailand as well as his hobby of music and guitar, they settled upon this design "The Music Angel Playing Guitar On A Cloud"

"Uchide-no-Kozuchi", "Small Magic Hammer"

2007-04-25T19:43:00.000+09:00

Jeffrey from "The Road Not Taken" took a trip over to Japan last week-end to add some more ink to his collection. This tattoo was done by Yuuki at Irezumi Hozonkai in Yokohama.

The main design of this new tattoo styling by Yuuki is a "Uchide-no-Kozuchi" which can be translated as a "small magic hammer." According to Japanese folklore, swinging this small hammer grants its holder’s wishes. It figured prominently in the ‘Otogizoushi’ written in the Muromachi Period, which tells a story of a tiny hero, called Issunboshi whose height is just one sun (3.03cm). He went to defeat ‘Oni’ ogres and acquired the magic hammer there. He used it to become a noble young man and married a princess. Later in his life, he successfully climbed up to become a Chunagon (current equivalent to the vice president of a country).

Read the full post about Jeffrey's tattoo: "Uchide-no-Kozuchi" By Yuuki (a.k.a. Betty from Yokohama)

A Gecko Tale

2007-04-25T19:18:00.000+09:00

My buddy "Casual" from "Casual Jones" has submitted his gecko tattoo and commentary. Casual had his tattoo done in America for $75 quite a few years back and while he now resides in The U.S.of A., he did live and teach in South Korea for 3 years.

Casual's quote about the gecko,

"I love my tattoo because it defines who I am. The Gecko. I had it done when I was just 15 years old, illegally of course, right after one of my best friend's dad hanged himself in his own basement. I was surprised and upset and mixed emotions raced through my mind. I wanted to make a stand, rebel or do what ever teenagers do when they're confused. I got the gecko, and to this day it's become part of me. Will I get another tattoo in the future...? I am not sure, I've lived in Asia for almost three years and resisted the temptations, if I come back, There might be a red dragon involved!"

Temple Guard

2007-04-25T16:33:00.000+09:00

This tattoo was done in Bangkok, Thailand on Khao Sahn Rd. at a shop called D&B Tattoos. The tattoo is a Thai Temple Guard known in Thai as a "Yak", I was told there are around nine different characters of "Yak", the most powerful being "Hanuman". In Buddhist legend he has accomplished many feats. I was also told Thai children fear "Yaks" similar to the way western children fear the "Boogie Man". They apparently punish wrong doers for eternity after death and have a favourite pass time of seducing women. The "Yak's" main job now is to prevent evil demons from entering the temples.

Hanuman and Tantra
Tantra represents the occult side of Hinduism. With the aid of chants (mantras) and diagrams (yantras) Tantriks (practitioners of Tantra) channelise the powers of the cosmos for the advantage of humanity.

Tantriks believe that Hanuman is the most accomplished of their lot having achieved the much-sought after eight occult powers:

1). Anima - The ability to reduce his size.

2). Mahima - Ability to increase his size.

3). Laghima - The ability to become weightless.

4). Garima - Ability to increase weight.

5). Prapti - The ability to travel anywhere and acquire anything.

6). Parakamya - Irresistible will power.

7). Vastiva - Mastery over all creatures.

8). Isitva - Ability to become god like with the power to create and destroy.

My next visit to Thailand I went back to D&B Tattoos and had some more work added to my Temple Guard. Diamond, the artist, added the head of a Thai dragon and a side profile of the very recognizable "Ganesha".

"Ganesha(Wikipedia) is worshipped as the lord of beginnings, the lord of obstacles, patron of arts and sciences, and the god of intellect and wisdom. He is honoured with affection at the start of any ritual or ceremony and invoked as the "Patron of Letters" at the beginning of any writing."

(click for full size)

At work...

...and at play.

To read more about my adventure in Bangkok read: Bangkok and Snake Whiskey

Jimmy Wong

2007-04-23T08:36:00.000+09:00

Jeffrey from "The Road Not Taken" being congratulated by Jimmy Wong after winning the "Best Japanese-style Tattoo" contest at Jimmy Wong's 1st World Tattoo Arts Festival and Exhibition in Bangkok last year.

Jeffrey's tattoo by Jimmy Wong, in Thailand.

Butterfly

2007-04-23T08:27:00.000+09:00

A buttefly tattoo done by an artist in Daegu, South Korea, I didn't get the shop details, I was told she found the shop through the internet.

Tribal Dragon

2007-04-23T07:58:00.000+09:00

This tattoo was done on the island called Boracay in the Philippines at a shop called Noel's Tattoos. There are many people offering tattoos there, Noel's shop has the best reputation among the locals.

Ahh, so that's what that means!

2007-04-20T19:09:00.000+09:00

It's no secret that Asian tattoos are all the craze these days, and what better way to make yourself super cool than needling in some Asian characters.

First things first, if you do feel the need to ink yourself with any other language other than the ones you are fluent in, you had better double check your translations with someone you can totally trust. I can't think of anything worse than walking around with "I'm a dumb dick" tattooed on my arm without having the slightest clue until the day comes when someone approaches you only to inform you what your super cool tattoo really says.

That reminds me of a story back when I was working a summer landscaping job, we were working in the backyard of a man who emigrated to Canada from Singapore, there I was wearing my Machinehead shirt which had some Chinese characters on the front and Machinehead on the back.
When the man from Singapore, nice guy by the way, says to me "Do you know what your shirt says?"
I say "yeah, Machinhead"
He laughs and says "Oh, no it doesn't. It says fuck you!"
"Hmm, I thought, interesting"

Anyway, the point I'm getting to is this story "Lost in Translation: what those cool-looking tattoos really say" Junko Hamaguchi tells some stories about people's tattoos with the wrong translations.

This one I found funny:

"Together, these tattoos say "love hurts," which is what Matt Borek wanted. "Everyone is looking for love, but everyone gets pain," he says. That’s poetic, but the second word also can be read as "ouch." When I first saw his tattoos, I thought they expressed how much he loves his tattoos but that getting them hurt like hell."

And that brings me to the next story, "Culture is Skin Deep". This is all about the trend of Asian
characters. Here's a little sample:

“The Chinese-Japanese written language is very complex. Unless the tattoo artist speaks and writes the language, it’s impossible to translate correctly,” said Alley. “One wrong brush stroke and it says something completely different.”

Stories about tattoo artists wreaking revenge on nasty customers by inking derogatory phrases like “slut” and “ugly” float from one tattoo shop to another like urban legends, but Horitaka has seen a lot of really messed up kanji that declare gibberish.

Whether for cultural or fashionable reasons, he has advice for the burgeoning group of young people scrambling to get their ethnic phrase inked in their skin: do your research.

“People come [into the tattoo shop] and say, ‘I got this off the internet,’” said Horitaka. “Well, the internet is a toilet bowl. Others come in and say, ‘We were at a Chinese restaurant and someone helped us translate this.’ Well, did you tip well?”

Haha, I like that "Well, the internet is a toilet bowl" anyway, just some food for thought in case anyone reading this is considering some Asian characters for their next tattoo.

Samurai riding a horse

2007-04-20T16:34:00.000+09:00

This back piece was done on the back of Jeffrey from The Road Not Taken, it is a Samurai riding a horse by Horisei from Kofu, Japan. The entire tattoo took 17 hours to do, eight of those hours coloring the Samurai in one session. You can see more about this tattoo here.

My First Tattoo

2007-04-20T16:11:00.000+09:00

Since this is my first post I thought I'd start it off with a trip down memory lane, my first tattoo. I had my first session in June of 2001, although that wasn't all that long ago it does seem like an eternity. My first piece was done by Scott at Eternal Image in Calgary,Canada, it was a 5 and a half hour session on my left arm that cost me $550 CDN. The theme is Japanese, maybe some foreshadowing of my future because at that time I had no idea I would end up in Asia, and it goes all around my arm. The Koi fish is said to climb waterfalls bravely, and, if caught, it lies upon the cutting board awaiting the knife without a quiver, not unlike a samurai facing a sword. This theme dates back to ancient China, where a legend tells of how any koi that succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate (on the Yellow River) would be transformed into a dragon.