Biography
Tradition passed down from
generation to generation
Since 2003, I have been tattooing using traditional Japanese methods(Tebori) & instruments(Nomi / Sashibo).
Disciple
I began apprenticeship with my predecessor Takehisa Muramatsu as known as Honke Horiyoshi aka Kensho 1st in Saitama, Japan.
I was simply a customer of my master. My master liked me. I am not sure why.
One day, he asked, “Do you want to become tattoo artist?” “Yes sensei,” I replied. From that point, I started my tattooing career. Normally, it’s very difficult to be given the chance to become a tattoo apprentice in Japan. Especially within a traditional Japanese tattoo family. I was very lucky.
The Japanese apprentice system is very strict.
I slept only 2-3 hours a day for the first three years of my apprenticeship, because there is so much to learn.
My predecessor never taught me directly. Instead, I watched his technique and studied his drawings for couple years until I received permission to practice Nomi/Sashibo and Tebori, but not on customers.
I trained on various items such as paper, radish, banana, pig skin I bought supermarket, etc. After much repetition, I ultimately tried the techniques on my own skin and studied what sort of ink mixtures (Japanese traditional tattoo artists make black ink for each appointment) worked and looked better, how much force I should apply for Tebori, etc…
Perhaps it sounds inefficient, but I think it was very important to trial and error on myself in order to improve.
A true craftsman spends life to learning and improving as much as possible and passing it on to the next generation, and they never called themselves a master.
Traditional tattoos are not individual objects, but a collection of evolving wills from the past to the present, filled with the thoughts and feelings of our ancestors.
Succession
From 2003 to 2017 I started tattooing as a professional and was known as “天煕龍(Tenkiryu)”. Later, I received the title (sorry I cannot tell you name of title) from my predecessor at the end of 2017, which I used from January to June in 2018. Eventually, I had to change my title again to “弐代目建尚(Kensho The Second / Kensho II)” by outsider, it’s a long story. But it is a name I like it much more than old title.
The old title was as a successor of my predecessor’s tattoo family tree which began since around after the world war 2 period. The new title is my predecessor’s first name in On-Yomi(Kanji has two type of reading On-Yomi and Kun-Yomi) which means I’m in a direct line of Honke Horiyoshi as a successor. Life is strange.
Journey
In recent 10 years, I received invitations from numerous international tattoo conventions all over the world and awarded and I won multiple awards in tattoo contests. Through the conventions, I made friendships and shared knowledge with other foreign tattoo artists. These experiences gave me inspiration and I began to find focus in a new direction.
As I traveled to different countries and experienced the wonderful traditional culture of each country, I began to think about my own identity and my own country, Japan.
After that, I realized that there are many things that I can only realize after seeing the world with my own eyes.
And I also felt a sense of crisis that the traditional culture is gradually dying out.
Return A Favor
Together with other tattoo artists representing various genres, we formed the TAT Traditional Tattoo Association, a non-profit organization to protect and support traditional tattoos around the world, and we are legally registered in Germany in 2019.
In 2023, by opportunity, I became an honorary lecturer of Japanese traditional arts affiliated with the AAA Abstract Art Academy in Germany.
In recognition of my past achievements, I received a special honorary award for the preservation and contribution to important traditional culture and an international license to lecture at universities around the world as a professor of Japanese traditional arts under the cooperation of the European Union and UNESCO.
I used these positions to begin to improve the social status of traditional tattooists and to support traditional craftsmen.
I now live in Netherlands and opened private atelier, but keep traveling to enhance my skills and supporting traditional peoples as return a favor.
I am on a path to find the best possible way of tattooing in my life.
