Tattoos of the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Motifs in the Japanese Tattoo

This unique book by tattoo artist Takahiro Kitamura (Horitaka, a pupil of Horiyoshi III) discusses the art of the Japanese tattoo in the context of Ukiyo-e, concentrating on the parallel histories of the woodblock print and the tattoo. Through high quality illustrations it shows that the Japanese tattoo is highly reliant on and linked to the woodblock print and that it deserves a position among the other art forms. A range of typical ukiyo-e motifs in the Japanese tattoo are discussed and illustrated by the original Japanese prints, and sketches, drawings and tattoos by tattoo master Horiyoshi III. The book ends with a special essay by Don Ed Hardy.

• Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo
• The Japanese Tattoo
• Japanese Tattoos: Meanings, Shapes and Motifs
• Japanese Tattoos: History * Culture * Design
• Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey into Japanese Tattoo (Schiffer Book) (No. 3)
• Traditional Tattoo in Japan, HORIKAZU: Lifework of the Tattoo Master from Asakusa in Tokio
• Dream Spectres: Extreme Ukiyo-e: Sex, Blood, Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, Tattoo (Ukiyo-e Master Series)
• Tokyo Tattoo 1970
• Eastern Shadows: Illustrated Japanese Ghost And Monster Tales (Ukiyo-e Master Series)
• Samurai And Tiger Wars: Art by Kuniyoshi and Others (Ukiyo-e Master Series)