Q. How did you become an tattooist? When I was little, I was often told in class that I was good at drawing! I liked drawing, so I thought I would become a manga artist in the future, so I tried using cloud-shaped rulers and pasted tones, and so at that time, I simply wanted to become a manga artist. As time went by, I didn’t have any tattooed friends around me, so I didn’t have the chance to meet any tattooed people at all. I was interested in painting and art, so I was more the type to be in the art club and spend my time quietly. Then I happened to take a class in design at junior college, and that’s when I became interested in design and went to design school. I heard about various jobs and employment from friends, as well as teachers and current designers in the field, I went to exhibitions and saw people working hard and doing part-time jobs with the dream of having their own jewellery brand. Yet I spent my days agonising over what I wanted to do. I started to think that I didn’t want to be a designer, but a craftsman, or an artist, and that I wanted to work with my hands first and foremost, and then I started to worry about my future. I read up on the biographies of various artists and researched my favourite artists, it was during this time, that whilst still wondering what I wanted to do, that I had a lot of opportunities to meet people with tattoos. Despite never having had a tattoo before, I somehow realised that a tattoo artist was a good fit for me! That’s when I decided to become a tattooist! I’d never had a tattoo before and I didn’t have any friends around me who had tattoos, so I’d never really thought about it. What kind of work could it be? So, my curiosity drove me to go for my first tattoo. I was so curious about what kind of work it was, and I wanted to try it firsthand. As soon as I saw how it worked, that’s when I decided I wanted to become a tattoo artist. The machine, the ink, the atmosphere at the moment of tattooing. I was shocked that such a fun job existed! I decided to become a tattoo artist, and that’s what I’ve been doing it ever since.
Q. What is a tattoo? For some it’s fashion, for some it’s art, for some it’s a talisman, for some it’s life itself. Tattooing is my reason for living, it’s my hobby, it’s part of my daily life, I can’t live without it.
