For most of the last century, Japanese tattooing lived a kind of double life. Irezumi, or wabori, carried centuries of ...

At a small, clinically-lit studio in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, fearsome warriors and mythical creatures glare out from paper drawings lining the perimeter of the space. The tattooist here, who asked ...

Do your research, kids, 'cause there's a high chance you may end up with "demon bird mothballs" and "chicken sesame" instead ...

It’s a question that’s crossed the mind of every inked-up person wanting to travel to one of the famous hot spring facilities in Japan. To help travelers navigate the country’s tricky policies on skin ...

Last fall, the Osaka High Court ruled that tattooer Taiki Masuda broke the law by tattooing without a medical license. Today, the court issued a ruling on his appeal ...

It's long been an unspoken rule among Japanese spa operators that customers with tattoos were not allowed into hot springs -- onsens. In Japan, tattoos are associated with the Japanese mafia, commonly ...