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Bunshin Horitsune: Tattoos and Assorted Flowers

Some of the nicest Japanese tattoos with mainly flowers depicted that I've seen. These bodies are true works of art.

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From Bunshin Horitsune: Chrysanthemums (Kiku)

blackboybebop said: Did you rip the book?!?!!

Oh, not intentionally!! It's detailed in my early Bunshin posts: The Bunshin book was so damaged from a flood that hit my house that it was molded all over and had to be thrown away immediately. But I wanted to scan what I could before having to throw it away. So I did. However, the pages were really thin (my only gripe about the book) and some of the most badly molded pages that were stuck together tore easily even as I tried to be patient and gentle. I can restore a lot of things in Photoshop, but not much can be done about those big rips. Normally I don't upload the badly damaged/ unfix-able ones, but this is one of my favorites.

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Bunshin Horitsune: Chrysanthemums (Kiku)

Love the way the waves and water compliment the flowers. There is a section of photos of the book that have fewer photos from different people rather than several views of one entire bodysuit. Were towards the back of the damaged book and thus are more torn than some of the others I've uploaded, but I fixed them up as well as I could. This bodysuit is my favorite non-dragon piece. Beautifully done!

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Genshoku Nihon Shisei Taikan: Horiyoshi 2

These are by Horiyoshi II of the Kuronuma Family (not to be confused with the globally known Horiyoshi III) from Genshoku Irezumi Taikan. The tattoo appears to be that of cross-dressing kabuki hero Benten Kozo. I like his style, especially how he draws humans and goddesses. These 3DS pictures from the library don't do his art much justice, and I can start scanning much better photos from my own book, Horiyoshi's World (1983), when I get off winter break in February. Horiyoshi's World is the first tattoo book collection of his including writings by Donald Ritchie, and the second book (1987)has a foreword by Horiyoshi III if I'm not mistaken (I think only the expanded edition does). Both books are published by the Japan Tattoo Institute and contain tattoo history, a huge collection of tattooed people and closeups, and photos of the master at work and his tools.

(Also, shisei is another word for Irezumi, and the title means something like Full-Color Japanese Tattoo Encyclopedia). So it surveyed a bunch of different artists in 1973, and Horiyoshi was one of the few that later got his own book.

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Irezumi-man

A work created out of my love of japanese tattoos. It is a tattooed man in a traditional sarashi (waist-cloth). He sports a tattoo of a lion and peonies (known as karashishi-botan together). The lion symbolizes protection and bravery, and the fragile peonies balance the ferocity of the lion. Is he a firefighter, carpenter, or yakuza? No one knows. The tattoo was challenging, but fun to paint!

Oil paint on canvas paper.

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Another beauty by Katsushika Hokusai!

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Chinese Lion/ Foo Dog Prints:

Chines Lions are my favorite motifs in Japanese tattoos. The color print is by Kuniyoshi, and the rest are by Hokusai. Love the detail and movement put into these prints, and they'll always be good for inspiration of tattoos!

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Cool! Saw his work often in 1000 Japanese Tattoos, and his work was always instantly recognizable because of the artistry of his tattoos!

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Wow, I've never seen anything like this! Cool use of shapes and patterns

Un tatouage de Nazareno Tubaro / Sébastien

Notre forum : www.inkage.fr/forum/ www.inkage.fr #tattoo #tatouage #ink #inked

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Great linework!

#tattoo #japanesetattoo #japanesestyle #blackeyestattoo #asami #彫浅 #刺青 #入れ墨

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Carp (Koi) in Ukiyo-e

Various carp ukiyo-e prints.The first is by Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豐國). The second print features Kintaro wrestling a carp by Katsukawa Shuntei. The third features Oniwakamaru (鬼 若 丸) about to kill a carp by Kuniyoshi. There seem to be tattoos with the standalone courageous carp, but I also love it when tattoos reference prints of legends like Kintaro, Momotaro, and Oniwakamaru. I love how the backgrounds of waves differs in each print, from tangling with a carp as it ascends a waterfall or as it thrashes in the sea.

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badideasman reblogged this from irezumilover and added:

Which movie is the last picture from?

博奕打ち/ 一匹竜-

Bakuchi Uchi Series, "Ippiki Ryu (One Dragon)", starring Koji Tsuruta. There's some more screenshots from this blog http://sunsea34.exblog.jp/17851383/

I've searched and searched, but can't find this on the internet for download, and even the sites that sell cheap copies of Japanese flicks don't have this series. In fact, I can't seem to find many of Koji Tsuruta's gambler/ yakuza movies.

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Do you have any more photos of this tattoo?! I'm absolutely in love with it

  Hi there- sorry, but this particular tattoo was one of the ones featured in the beginning, so there were only photos of the front and back view. I have a close-up, though it has a glare. I also included a similar tattoo from a movie still, though it's not as good of quality.

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Another sketch from Horimitsu

#sketch (horimitsu ikebukuro)

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Bunshin: Full Angle Photos One of the full angle photo sets. A dragon and tiger combination with a popular Suikoden warrior on the back. Took away the mold stains as best as I could, so apologies for some of the pages that are still chipped and discolored.

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Movie still from one of the Bakuchi-uchi (博奕打ち) series of movies, none of which I can seem to find on the internet or even from any of the online japanese movie dealers (most of which tend to deal mainly with samurai flicks, but have some action and yakuza flicks on occasion.) Unlike the movie I recently saw Irezumi Ichidai, the actors seem to actually sport well painted tattoos often throughout in the movies. One movie, Ippiki Ryu, actually had a scene where dozens of tattooed men were present and lined up for their tattoos to be inspected, including a famous tattoo artist as an extra (his name slips my mind, he has a tattoo by Horigoro).

鶴田浩二 , 天知茂

『博徒』

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Sketch by an artist I've been following for years, Horimitsu of Ikebukuro, who was an apprentice to Horitoshi 1. I found him after I started following Horiyamato, and while both incredible artists, Horimitsu just blew me away. His  tattoos are just mind-blowing, but it is also his ability as an artist that I love. His ability goes well beyond just reinterpretation of woodblock prints, it is full of imagination. I recommend his tumblr (sketches, art, and inspirational pictures) as well as his blogspot (tattoo works in progress), and I will reblog more of his work.

#sketch #dragon (horimitsu ikebukuro)