Customer Reviews

Bushido : Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This beautifully illustrated book will teach you all you've ever wanted to know about the history and culture of Japanese Tattooing. Takahiro Kitamura (aka Horitaki) has been a student of Horiyoshi III for some time and his devotion to the man and the topic are obvious.

With chapters covering the history and development of tattoos and their related art in Japan going back several centuries, exploring the tatoo master/client and master/apprentice relationships, contrasting American and Japanese tattoo, and explaining the nature of Japanese tattoo 'families', the book gives an exceedingly thorough overview.

Most of the more than 200 photos were taken exclusively for this book and can not be seen elsewhere. The detail in Horiyoshi III's designs and the craftmanship displayed through Jai Tanju's photographs is superb.

Whether you just want to see examples of a true tattoo master's work or want to come to a better understanding of the history and culture of Japanese tattooing, this is a book you must have.

Since this book is about the great Horiyoshi III and his family clan, it's a must-have for any serious fan of Japanese tattooing. Beautiful photographs and very informative texts.

If you're looking for something about Japanese tattooing itself (history, background, etc.) then I'd rather recommend Donald Richie's "Japanese Tattoo". Though the most in-depth book available, but rather demanding to read, is Wilem Van Gulik's "Irezumi - The Pattern of Dermatography in Japan". The latter is only recommended for advanced Irezumi enthusiasts.

If you're interested in beautiful photographs of Japanese tattoos, then I can also recommend Sandi Fellman's "Japanese Tattoo".

I never thougth I would find a book that got me more excited about traditional Japanese tattooing than Sandi Fellman's oversize Polaroids collected in THE JAPANESE TATTOO. However, BUSHIDO has changed all that, and I am overly excited once again. This volume is a showcase of modern Japanese tattoo artist Horiyoshi III, as recorded and written by client and student Takahiro Kitamura. Kitamura is able to describe the unique position that tattooing occupies, somewhere between traditional and modern techniques, as well as balancing between Japanese and Western stylings, and ancient and post-modern belief systems underlying it all.

The photography is by Katie Kitamura, wife of the author. Her pictures are reproduced mostly in full-color plates, focusing on the overall aesthetic along with lots of the details. The models are both men and women, of varying ages and stages of coverage. Full portraits are complimented with more closely cropped photos, enlarging complexly-patterned details, subtle shading and expressive faces. A lexicon of body areas with the traditional Japanese names for the style of body coverage along with names for the styles of fill and background is a unique highlight.

A rare and difficult find, worth every effort it takes to get this one into your tattoo book collection.

This is one of the best books on Japanese tattoos I have bought so far. The text is very informative and really keeps your interest. It gives you a good background of the history of the Japanese tattoo and brings you into the modern day of tattooing in Japan.

The photography in this book is outstanding. It records the work of the master Hiriyoshi III. The detail of Hiriyoshi III's work is incredible, and the photos really do it justice in this book. I own several books on Japanese tattoos and this is by far the best. I only wish it was done in a hard cover.

This book gives you a well written insiders view into the world of Japanese tatooing and provides a wonderful collection of work by Hiriyoshi III who is by far one of the best tattoo masters in the world today.

Whether your interested in Japanese tattoos or tattoos in general this book is a must have.

It appears to be the sad fate of English-language books on the Japanese tattoo that they so rarely combine all the desired publishing strengths--first-rate photography, unique insights, disciplined writing, and careful documentation--in a single volume. And this is disappointingly the case with Takahiro Kitamura's "Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo." The book includes, as previous reviewers have noted, stunningly beautiful photographs, and it benefits mightily from the personal access of Kitamura (who tattoos as the artist Horitaka) to modern practitioners of the Japanese tattoo. However, it is also the case that only a minute percentage of the book's illustrations are captioned and explained, the text keeps shifting perspective and voice, and the glossaries and index are inadequate.

As Kitamura has proved in both "Bushido" and his "Tattoos of the Floating World," the Japanese tattoo deserves to be regarded as a serious art form. It also deserves to be presented to the public by mainline art publishers who employ the best designers and the best color separation technology. To achieve this, the time has come for talented and passionate specialists like Kitamura to consider teaming with professional art writers who flourish outside the confines of the tightly-knit tattoo community.

I was disappointed with this book.
I'm a big fan of Japanese tattoo, but this book only shows Yakuza style tattoos, whole body, men only (there's only one woman tattoed in the whole book).
The pictures are mostly shots of the whole body, so you cannot see the details of the tattoos clearly.
There are only old school tattos, nothing from the more modern, contemporary Japanese style.
I expected to see at least a few cool dragons, koi fish, cherry blossoms, colors, but you get more of the rough drawings, demons, ugly faces, and so on.
If you're looking for something very specific on this theme, this book might be interesting. But if you want a broader view of Japanese tattoo, forget it.

First, this is indeed a beautiful book, as the photos are of Horiyoshi 3's beautiful work. It showcases full body work and the close-ups on the details. I really like the part when the different types of bodysuits are illustrated, and then the types are shown alongside examples of Horiyoshi's work. This is indeed a great reference for anyone looking for more than a sleeve or a small tattoo, and one can reference where they could have such tattoos replaced. There are also pictures of Horiyoshi at work, and he introduces the techniques, tools, and many other interesting things. One can also see the future Horiyoshi IV!

My main gripe is the history part of the tattoo. This is a great in- depth introduction to tebori and its techniques, and information about the Horiyoshi family, etc., but I warn you- do not take the Bushido musings too seriously. I collect books on Japanese tattoo- for the history more than pictures- and this is the first book that vehemently declares how irezumi spawned from the samurai and their way of life. In Japan's caste system, the samurai were the highest caste, and thus many were the aristocracy that formed the government. Tattoos in Japan were at first mainly for marking criminals, but they blossomed into a form of rebellion against the samurai caste and the oppresive feudal government. Also, samurai, as the top caste and thus the upholders of society, usually were not tattooed. They were to set an example to the lower castes, and they followed the strict Confucian belief against marking the body, anyway. The exeption was if they were yakuza, who tattooed in their allegiance to their gangs, but Japanese tattoo before more contemporary times (starting with the Meiji Era, circa 1868) was extensively part of an urban culture of the lower castes, not samurai values and beliefs.

Sorry to give a sort of a history lesson. I could write pages to counterbalance the 'Bushido musings' aspect of this book, but simply put, this isn't a book for Japanese tattoo's history. I'm not saying everything in this book is historically inacurrate, but the samurai and bushido comparisons are. Kitamura is still quite an educated individual. Many, upon hearing the name Horiyoshi 3, will come running for this book, and it indeed is a great reference for that, especially in the amazing photos and the insight from Horiyoshi 3. However, for a serious student of Japanese tattoo, I would recommend Japanese Tattoo by Donald Ritchie, Van Gulik's Irezumi book (like a previous reviewer said, although the most in-depth book in English, it can be demanding to read), or Bunshin Hyakushi (the greatest refence of all, but only for those who know Japanese!)

This book is a great reference for tattoo artists and other artists that enjoy the art of Japanese tattooing. It displays full page photographs (including close ups) so you can see the detail and subject matter quite well.

Nice book on older Japanese Yakuza type tattoos. It has good color pics and it is recommended. I also recommend:Advanced Tattooing Techniques A Guide To Realism Also: Shige Plus: Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey Into the Japanese Tattoo (Schiffer Book) (No. 3)

Insightful book on perhaps one the richest forms of tattooing. Descriptive text, great quality images, a must have for anybody willing to learn about the history of japanese tattooing, and what it really means, especially with so much horrible tattoos walking around us today. COP IT.