Hello from India!

[anirudh]

Hey all! I have been a long time lurker here and have enjoyed reading and checking out all the cool tattoos and the stories related to getting them. I currently have my back tattooed along with my lower right leg. I need some advice on getting a new tattoo, since at this point I am contemplating a full body suit old school japanese style. Would this be a proper place to ask a few questions or should I wait until I am able to start new threads?

[Graeme]

Welcome, and ask away!

[pidjones]

May I ask you a few questions? Where are you in India? What (if any) are the social stigmas associated with tattoos there? I have traveled to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh many times from 1993 to 2008, but did not have any tattoos then. I would like to visit again, but do not wish to cause my hosts any concern. Most of my visit would be in farming areas near the border between the two states, with a bit of time in Chennai.

[Lakerfan33]

Welcome to the forum!

Hope the weather is better then it is in CALIFORINIA

[anirudh]

@Graeme and others

Thank you for the welcome.

As I mentioned, I am thinking of getting a full suit, (or whatever area remains untattooed now). I really like an artist, but he does tebori only and another artist who tattoos with machine. For both, I would have to travel to Japan. Getting appointments with either is not an issue.

1. I plan to visit for 10 days at a time and try to get 3-4 hours of tattooing done every day so that I can knock off 30-35 hours of inking time every trip. Is this alright? I know pain thresholds are different for everyone. What I mean to ask is if tattooing like this everyday would make the ink not settle down well or are there any others concerns I should be aware of?

2. I would really prefer to get tattooed by the first Horishi. His style and color choices are exactly what I have been looking for. But I am afraid tebori is going to take way too long to complete. Can anyone comment on how much of a time difference there is between machine and tebori tattooing?

Thank you for all your help! I cannot wait to start this journey either way

- - - Updated - - -

@pidjones

Well, it's not like it's forbidden to have tattoos here or that there's a stigma attached to it. But be ready for a lot of stares. Especially if you are heavily tattooed. The general public doesn't have a negative perception about them, it's just that large tattoos are uncommon here. You may even get to strike up a lot of conversation with strangers because of them.

@Lakerfan33 right now, it's warm and humid :( I'll take Cali weather any day over this

[Graeme]

@anirudh I am not an expert on Japanese tattooing so I'm not sure how helpful any of my advice will be, but I think you should reach out to the artists you're thinking of and ask them to see if they think your plan is realistic. I met somebody who got tattooed for seventeen days in a row to complete her suit and if she had any special issues with healing or whatever I'm not aware of them, so getting tattooed at that rate can be done, though I know many of the traditional Japanese tattoo artists tend to work in short sessions so you'd have to ask if they would be willing to work the way you want to get tattooed. Likewise with machine vs. tebori. I've heard (and I believe @hogg can verify this) that Horiyoshi 3 is as fast with tebori as most people are wish machines. I also have met people getting large tattoos by tebori and they have logged far more hours than they would have if the tattoo was being done by machine. I don't know how different that is from electric tattooing though because everybody works at a different pace with machines too. But again, that's probably a question that only the artists you're thinking of could answer.

Either way, stick around and let us know what you decide to do!

[hogg]

@Graeme Horiyoshi tattooed me by machine, and I'm fairly certain that he no longer tattoos by tebori. As for speeds, it varies from one artist to the next, as does tattooing by machine. I have a 2/3 sleeve by Horitomo that is mostly tebori, and he was faster than some machine-only artists.

@anirudh: which artist are you referring to? I believe "Horishi" just means "tattooer" in Japanese. Do you have a link to his work?

[anirudh]

@Graeme Horiyoshi tattooed me by machine, and I'm fairly certain that he no longer tattoos by tebori. As for speeds, it varies from one artist to the next, as does tattooing by machine. I have a 2/3 sleeve by Horitomo that is mostly tebori, and he was faster than some machine-only artists.

@anirudh: which artist are you referring to? I believe "Horishi" just means "tattooer" in Japanese. Do you have a link to his work?

@hogg Yes, I know that horishi means carving master. The artist I am talking about is Houryu (houryu(yoshi)

As you see his color palette is very limited and the tattoos are very old school in their looks. I am quite confused if I should start tebori work or do it with machine instead

[hogg]

He's an excellent choice, and I agree with you that he

Is work has a beautiful old school aesthetic. I think you should email or call him to see what he says.