hey guys
i’m leaving for japan in two days and was wondering if anyone new some decent places to get some tattoos done
preferably around tokyo and koyoto as they are the only cities i am going to
cheers
I have no idea, but you can’t get into water parks if you have your tattoos visible.
I was in boarders book shop on the weekend chilling in the aircon and came across and article about tattoos in japan. Can’t remember the name of the mag but its at boarders.
Its pretty hard to find a tattooist in Japan. You won’t find shops with street fronts like you do here. Japanese society still largely sees tattoos as deviant. They where actually outlawed until 1945 or something like that.
Searching for irezumi or horimono might help you track one down.
This is all a quick web search for Japanese tattooist throws up http://www.horiyasu.com/
or just punch in “Tokyo tattoo” into google and it will give you a list of tattoo studios in and around tokyo.
Some onsens (bath houses) will refuse you entry if you have tattoos, but not all.
There are quite a few studios around Tokyo that are very westernized, and similar to Australian street shops, but i would advise having a translator with you.
I was never tattooed while i was there but some Japanese friends told me it can be quite expensive, but the exchange rate was fucked at that time aswell, not to mention the gaijin tax you may incur 
Check out Post Modern Ink as they had a list of some of the best shops in Tokyo and surrounds…
What style of tattoo do you want…there are dozens of place I could recomend if you tell me what style
ink rat, three tides, horioshi III? i guess it depends how long you are around and what you want…
i think three tides might be in Osaka… cant remember.
yep three tides is in osaka…