Horikin, The Japanese Tattoo, Transcendence, Japanese Tattoo Book

Extract from the Book The Japanese Tattoo Transcendence

orikin designed this pattern for his head ("the seat of all senses"). Which was then tattooed variously by Horigoro III, Horikin II (his brother and disciple), and Horiyoshi III. Here the art of tattooing joins that of calligraphy. The large red characters are a form of modified Sanskrit for Acala. The small characters repeat, like a chant, the god's name one hundred times. The image has many levels of meaning and resembles a seated Lord Buddha with smoke rising from his holiness. This is the second tattooed head in Japanese history. The first belonged to Horikame, who died in 1932. Now that Horikin's hair has begun to thin and his forehead shows his tattoos, he wears a hat in public.

I highly recommend this book. Reasonable Price for very good photographs.

Buy it Here >> The Japanese Tattoo