Last Friday, the staff of One Shot Tattoo in Naha City were kind enough to let me take some photographs at their tattoo studio. Even better one of their clients gave me permission to photograph his full body irezumi. I am not going to even pretend this is an everyday occurrence for me.
I set up a black background in a small changing room then used a hammerhead flash with a softbox attachment for lighting. I used the Pentax 67II, Fuijfilm Provia 100F and a 100mm macro lens. When I had everything set up Kamiya-san came in, stripped of his clothes and I took two rolls of film. Not sure how long the shoot lasted, I was too busy checking and rechecking the settings on the camera and flash making sure that I was getting everything right. Supposedly I looked a little flustered which would be about right.
The dragon on his stomach was remarkable, it moved and changed shape as he breathed, and at one point while looking through the viewfinder I thought I might be having a hallucination.
Irezumi - Japanese tattoos
Irezumi - Japanese tattoos
Later I took some shots of the studio owner and artist Satoru Koizumi tattooing a new design onto Kamiya-san’s wrist. It looked painful but as you can see from the photo some people are able to control themselves far better than others.
Satoru Koizumi of One Shot Tattoo at work.
I’d like to thank Michelle and Annya for helping set up the shoot, Satoru Koizumi for allowing me to take images in his studio, and of course Kamiya-san for baring all and allowing me to share this ancient Japanese art form with others.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 
Thanks for sharing! His tattoos are amazing. Are you finding that tattoos are becoming less of a taboo over there?
I think tattoos are more common in Okinawa than mainland Japan, but it is still taboo for many. People with tattoos are still excluded from onsens (and maybe even swimming pools). Some say this is part of the tradition of onsen bathing, others believe it is simply another example of discrimination.
Do you know when it started to tattoo the man in the photo? how long it took to have his body like that?
hi i worked at oneshot tattoo for one month in 2009,satoru is a great artist,and a great guy,enjoyed your blog,
Very good tattoo! Did you have Kamiya-San’s Facebook or Instagram address?
Glad you like the pics! But sorry, I don’t have that for Kamiya-san.