anirudh

"Chest piece" lol. Damn man, you've got a hell of a front there. Looks great.

Thanks. Can't wait to finish it. Too bad the front hurts like hell, can't seem to do long sessions. I am hoping the shading won't hurt as much though. Do we have a separate 'front tattoos' thread? Maybe I can get some pointers.

Decided to post here instead of my intro thread. My first trip to Japan for 10 days. The arm was a coverup and was all done by tebori. Also started on the chest piece. And boy does it hurt! I thought I had a pretty good pain threshold. But the middle of the pecs is a different level altogether! Back to my country and I am already missing the pain though.

@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

@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

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?