Hello,
Welcome at the site which has been established to promote Japanese culture, history, Japanese mythology and show artworks of top Japanese tattoo masters.
My name is Martin Hladik, I am a Czech photographer and videographer, based in Tokyo since 2000.
With a great help of my Japanese friends, I tries to show traditional Japanese tattoo art including underground society where a good tattoo has a great value and from where the most of clients belong.
Tattoo has been on Japanese islands already several thousands years and not always it has been considered as “bad things”. Until beginning of last century females of Ainu people from Hokkaido island were tattooed around their lips for a fortune in their future life and as a act of being ready for their marriage. On the opposite side, tattoos of forehead and hands existed on Honshu island as punishment of criminals.
Tattoo of Ainu people has been intentionally stopped by Japanese government more then 100 years ago and slowly disappeared. Tattoo had survived on the other Japanese islands and bloomed in underground as an invisible art and later it became a status of Japanese Yakuza. Even thought current situation in Japan is slowly changing with young generation, and young crowd is wearing modern pop culture spot tattoos, Japanese government acts even more strict agains tattoo generally then any time before.
Project “Tattoo in Japan” features originality traditional tattoo in Japan, tattoos based on Chinese and Japanese mythology, drawings and woodblock prints from Edo period (period between 1603 and 1868). This kind of tattoo still exist in Japan and through growing popularity of traditional motives among common people it looks like it is going to survive this century as well.
I have published a massive, A4 size, 500-page photo book in Germany. I was fortuned to have a chance to photograph work and life of Horikazu sensei, hidden top Japanese tattoo master from Asakusa, several years before he passed away, which has resulted in an amazing collection of images and finally also a book:
“Traditional Tattoo in Japan: HORIKAZU-Lifework of the Tattoo Master from Asakusa in Tokyo” can be purchased here.
Beside mentioned project, I work as a professional photographer for various magazines and also as a videographer for number of commercial clients worldwide.
Copyright note:
All images of this site must NOT be copied or used without written permission. Ask here!
Copyrights of tattoos belong to featured tattoo masters!