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I once read about a tattoo artist from Osaka, Japan.
It was the most impressive work I'd ever seen. It was made by Horitsune II.
I wrote, we got acquainted, and now, five years later...
...I'm back in Japan for the fifth time to visit Horitsune.
This time not only to finish my backpiece...
...but also to work, travel and visit colleagues.
I'm Rob Admiraal, a tattooist from Amsterdam...
...with a special interest in the Japanese style.
I'm going to Nagoya, to see Sabado.
Sabado is the owner of Eccentric in Nagoya.
In my view he's the paragon of Japanese tattoo artists.
He's not only influenced by Japanese tradition, but also by the West...
...and he merges the two styles into one.
When I was travelling in South America...
...I met a guy doing a tattoo on the street...
...and I got my first tattoo from him. And then one or two years later...
...when I'd continued travelling...
...I went to São Paolo. I met some tattoo artists...
...from a studio and afterwards I bought the tattoo machine from them.
And I started.
At one time tattoos were done in secret, as a Japanese underworld thing.
It's only recently...
...in studios like these, you see Japan distancing itself from the old prejudices.
Everything changes. The work is totally different from what it was in the past.
You see many more Western tattoos and the influence of them.
Lots of people start with a small tattoo...
...but return to the more traditional work.
It's certainly so that if you have a tattoo...
...you give a negative signal to society.
Tattoos are not as popular here...
...as they are abroad.
There are companies where you're not allowed to have them.
I think we are now in a mixed time.
It's a good time maybe. Many cultures mix...
...their way of thinking. Everybody is growing up or changing.
I don't know about the future, but now is maybe a good time.
It's getting popular.
You now see people walking around with a tattoo.
Showing your tattoo is easier now.
The customers aren't only just
I know someone who had a tattoo done by Sabado.
That was in the Berlage building in Amsterdam, oh, maybe ten years ago.
Long ago. - Yes, ages ago. It was Tall John.
He had a tattoo done by Sabado and said: He's going to be a big one later on.
And he was right. - Yes, he already saw it then.
Right now we're in Kyoto with Nori...
...and he just explained to me...
...that his real name is Nori, but his tattoo name is Sougetsu.