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YOSHIO HONJO IS A JAPANESE TATTOO ARTIST.
I grew up in a rice farming village in Japan called Takashima, in Shiga Prefecture. It’s right next to Lake Biwa, which is the largest lake in Japan. I spent time working in the rice fields on the weekends with my family. We swam in the mountain rivers in summer, catching tadpoles and chasing dragonflies. My family wasn't overly traditional, but they were on the more traditional side. I never saw any tattoos until I was about 20 years old, when I saw some young people working in hospitality and clothing shops who had a few.
I moved to Osaka at 18 with my best friend Satoshi. We both fell in love with true American vintage clothing and music, and we started our own vintage clothing shop. When we were 22 years old, Satoshi and I made trips to Los Angeles. We couldn't speak a word of English. We would go to all the vintage stores in California and buy up all the clothes we felt inspired by, then bring them back to the shop to sell as stock.
We wanted to get tattoos, but they’re not cheap, so we talked about starting tattooing instead. It was a stupid conversation, but we ended up getting tattoo starter kits. I was tattooing my legs and my friends, and that’s how I began 20 years ago – we just wanted to get cheap tattoos. At that stage, I was mostly working in the Native American tribal style. My friends and I were really into the Red Hot Chili Peppers – they had tattoos and we thought they were so cool. I wanted to be like them, with their long hair and lots of ink. Their tattoos were Native American tribal, so that was our influence.
I met an Australian girl, and we married shortly after. That's how I ended up in Australia about 15 years ago. When I moved here, I began getting lots of tattoos on my hands, neck and fingers. Now, my body is almost completely covered in tattoos – I can’t
even remember what I used to look like! In Japanese society, this look is generally associated with yakuza – Japan’s organised crime groups – but I believe yakuza are recognised for their hardened faces, not just extensive tattoos. I think Japanese people can see I’m not yakuza, but they can also see I’m a nonconformist. Once you step away from the big cities of Osaka and Tokyo, that isn’t common.
A while back, I asked my mum if I should go back to Japan for my brother’s wedding, but she said not to – my brother’s wife’s family is very traditional, and they didn’t want me to be there in case I had some connection with gangsters. That’s how traditional Japanese people think – it’s quite harsh. I avoid onsen and public bathing due to my tattoos. It would be disrespectful for me to enter. If I went to a public swimming pool or beach, I would cover my body with long sleeves and pants to avoid the social stigma that my tattoos evoke. When my mother’s friends come over and I’m visiting, my mum passes me a long-sleeve collared shirt to wear to cover myself up. I personally don't feel upset by this. I don't really care what others think, but I cover up for my mum. I think she’s worried about her close, elderly community gossiping about our family. I go back to Japan in the autumn and winter once every year or two, when I can wear really long shirts and have my hair down and cover my tattoos. When I moved to Australia, I landed in Melbourne and immediately started trying to get tattoo work. I worked at the street shops, tattooing tourists in St Kilda. At first, I was doing small standalone ‘one point’ tattoos. I was into that for two or three years, then started doing old-school American-style tatts. It wasn't until I moved to Sydney that people began to request more traditional Japanese work, and I became really interested in Ukiyo-e painting. I’m inspired by the paintings and enjoy researching the stories behind the particular characters or scenes. I use this process in both my tattoo and art practice. Recently, I’ve started using traditional Japanese materials in my art, like Japanese mud ink, known as suihi-enogu, and kozo washi paper.
Japanese tattoos are generally larger-scale, like a whole arm or a whole back or even the whole body. I can be more creative with that style of tattoo – Japanese designs can decorate people’s bodies very intricately. They’re not just little sticker tattoos that you put where you have gaps to fill. I’ve been doing this style for over 10 years now. People generally let me do whatever I like – they know me as a good Japanese tattoo artist, and now they ask me what I want to do, which is pretty great.
It’s up to the customer how long it takes to complete a piece. I’ve done a whole back piece down to the back of the knees in five weeks, but some people might take five years. Some customers I see more than I see my good friends – I meet so many different people. I tattooed a spy who was working for the Department of Defence, and someone who worked as a police sniper. I ask lots of questions about their lives – I really enjoy that part of my job.
Australia is very open when it comes to body art. In Japan, people hide tattoos and get them under their t-shirt area, but here, they don’t care as much about what people think. When I got to Australia and had a full sleeve, people did look at me very curiously, though. They would talk to me just because of my tattoos. My brother, who is the firstborn male in the family and has heavy pressure to conform, once said to me, “You are so lucky to be able to be free and be yourself.”
they didn't want me there in case i had some connection with gangsters