The path of Irezumi - Introduction (by Horimatsu)

Bamboo Sumi-e painting by unknown Japanese painter.

As the winters first snow silently begins it attempts of blanketing the world in its white cold embrace, I finally sit down to begin writing the beginning of what is hopefully an ongoing essay on my path of Irezumi, the traditional Japanese tattoo.
In these writings I will try to share my personal experience of the phenomena, as well as my insights and personal views on the subject matter. Forgive me if my language at times may seem overly academic and unessecary embroidered. Over the years I have come to realize that this is the way I speak about these things, and trying to change that fact would be an act of futility.

I will not try to write about things in any specific order. They will be jotted down as they come to me. neither will there be a certain space and time inbetween the posting of these writings. If I do not have anything to say, I will remain silent. If you as a reader choose to comment, please bear in mind that I am a more than full time working artist with a wife and three children. Answers will come when I have time.

It is also very important to keep in mind that my views and thoughts on Irezumi do not offer any universal way of viewing the matter. Just like any art form or tradition, Irezumi is a living breathing entity which changes parts of its appearance as it chooses new hosts to dwell in.
 The principal reason I have for sharing and discussing my path of Irezumi, which involves many other aspects of culture and spirituality ( both Japanese and western), is that I feel that so far the great boom in traditional Japanese tattooing here in the west usually focuses overwhelmingly on the graphic language, and that a door into a deeper understanding needs to be inched open.

I am not saying that there's anything wrong with simply enjoying creating tattoos more or less influenced by Irezumi. Anyone is perfectly free to create his or hers personal art. I nevertheless want to try and share the deeper knowledge and insights that I share with some of the Japanese masters as well as some of the few european ones.
 Because if you as a person and an artist find yourself attracted to the aesthatics and visual shape of Irezumi, there is so much more enjoyment and growth to be had if you try and penetrate just a little deeper into it.
 Of course I can only speak for myself. I have intensly studied this artform and its traditions for over ten years by now. I have read more books on Japanese art, history, culture and religion than I can remember. I have the tendencies of somebody manic when I delve into things and Irezumi (japan) has proved to be the thing that I have stuck with the longest so far. All these words that has passed before my eyes would on the other hand have little or no meaning in reality if they were not paired up with the unchallenged power of personal experience of the phenomen

So please feel free to return to this blog in the near future in order to take what you want, need or care for in what I choose to share with the reader. Be sure that there are a few things I prefer to keep a secret until you have matured enough. When that happens, the things are no longer a secret to you, and I will not have to tell you.