Jump to content

Good japanese reference books

JTJTJT

By JTJTJT,
in Tattoo Designs, Books and Flash

 Share

Recommended Posts

JTJTJT Regular

JTJTJT

Posted
Posted

Hi guys, I know a lot of you have some killer japanese tattoos so I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for good japanese reference books. Woodblock or straight up tattoos been nagged for what I want for Christmas (my family celebrate in January so it's not super short notice).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
piccalilli Initiated

piccalilli

Posted
Posted (edited)

* This one is pretty decent as an overview (and it is readily available i.e. affordable!)

Japanese Tattoos: History * Culture * Design

 

* This one is a bit older but good (written by Taki aka Horitaka aka Ryudaibori, owner of State of Grace in San Jose)

Bushido Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo

 

* Another one by Taki that is good (sounds close to what you're after)

Tattoos of the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Motifs in the Japanese Tattoo

 

* This one (by Horitomo of the Monmon Cats) is good if you're particularly interested in Fudo Myo-o (has some more general reference material on irezumi/monmon/wabori/etc). A lot of it is sketches that he had made from original art as well as historical detail on the iconography. Geared towards artists but I still found it interesting/educational.

Immovable: Fudo Myo-O Tattoo Design by Horitomo

 

In the end though, if you have a good artist who is knowledgeable, they can guide you in the right direction. I know that I could trust the person I worked with to get everything "right" and he also was able to explain to me what decisions he made that were "breaking" the rules (and why).

P.s. two more online resources that I personally like:

Irebokuro (hasn't been updated in donkey's years but what is there I found very educational)

BUDDHISM & SHINTŌISM IN JAPAN A-TO-Z PHOTO DICTIONARY OF JAPANESE RELIGIOUS SCULPTURE & ART (self-explanatory - a beast of a reference resource)

P.p.s. I am not an expert, I am just very interested in the subject...

Edited by piccalilli
Typos...typos everywhere... fo=/=of
Link to comment
Share on other sites
scottyg Contributor

scottyg

Posted
Posted

Check out: http://www.gominekobooks.com/

 

Here's my collection, and while there are so many better ones by the artists themselves, my priority is the backpiece itself!

Thompson, *Tattoos in Japanese Prints*

Ashcroft and Hori Benny, *Japanese Tattoos: History, Culture, Design*

Cooper, *Tokyo Tattoo 1970*

*Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World*

Mandelbaum, *Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey into Japanese Tattoo*

Fellman, *The Japanese Tattoo*

Kitamura and Kitamura, *Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo*

Kitamura, *Tattoos of the Floating World: Ukiyo-e motifs in the Japanese Tattoo*

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
piccalilli Initiated

piccalilli

Posted
Posted
On 06/01/2018 at 4:42 AM, thewitchhunter said:

Take a look at this:

Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi’s Heroes of the Suikoden

This has pictured many woodblock prints auf the 108 heroes of the Suikoden, a famous chinese novel, which is often used as inspiriations in asian styled tattoos.

Oh yes, I forgot - I have this one too, it is excellent. Good call, @thewitchhunter !

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 9 months later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...