Inkers MAGAZINE - Makoto Horimatsu

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Makoto Horimatsu

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ITW MAKOTO HORIMATSU

@pascalbagot

Originally from Fukuoka in southern Japan, where he now lives, Makoto Horimatsu discovered tattooing there before taking up the profession, to which he has devoted himself for the last twenty years. Influenced by both modern manga and ancient prints, Makoto Horimatsu draws inspiration from the long history of Japanese popular culture for his one-shot tattoos and large-format pieces.

We don't get much chance to talk about tattooing in Kyushu, that big island in the south of Japan. What's the situation in your town of Fukuoka?

The city receives fewer tourists than Tokyo or Osaka, and tattoo culture is not as advanced here.

Are there any traditional masters in Fukuoka and Kyushu that we should know about?

I'd say Horiso Tajima from Oita (@horiso_tajima). There is also a great new school Japanese tattooist in Kyushu, called King Rat Tattoo (@kingrat222). His drawing skills and passion for art are incredible.

What was your first contact with tattooing?

Probably the first time a friend got a tattoo. I'd like to think that the tattoo wasn't too bad, although I don't remember it. Anyway, the negative image of Japan didn't scare me and I decided to become a tattooer.

You learnt tattooing from the late Koji Ichimaru, a very talented Japanese tattooist who sadly passed away too soon. Can you tell us about his influence?

His work is unique and can't be easily imitated, but I want to keep talking about him so that everyone remembers him.

Can you tell us a bit about the artistic references you grew up with?

I watched a lot of manga when I was a child and then imitated them when I started drawing. I was particularly fond of the work of Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball manga. Thanks to his talent for drawing bodies, poses, clothes and colour schemes, he was able to create unique characters. Another manga artist I liked was Masanori Morita (born in 1966, he was Tetsuo Hara's assistant on the manga Hokuto no Ken, known in English as Fist of the North Star, ndr). Then I became a tattooer, I must have been 21 or 22, and I was inspired by Ukiyoe artists (term for Japanese prints produced between the 17th and 19th centuries, ndr) and all the tattooers.

Is that where the humour in your drawings comes from?

I don't have a very precise idea, but I prefer humour to scary tattoos.

The toad is one of your favourite subjects. Where does your interest in this amphibian come from?

I started painting frogs because I liked Kawanabe Kyosai. But, in fact, I don't particularly like them, I like animals in general and particularly works that look like caricatures.

Your work is somewhere between pop and traditional. How do you strike that balance?

I keep the modern, pop motifs and combine them with traditional backgrounds. There are a lot of pop works in Ukiyo-e and I think they go well with traditional tattoos. It would be good to change the dark image of tattoos among the Japanese.

Do you think the perception of tattoos is changing for the better?

The growing popularity of tattoos is a good thing for us but, on the other hand, there are a lot of young people who regret their decision after taking the plunge on a whim or because of the price. That's not a good thing.

How do you see the Japanese tradition of tattooing? As a burden of the past or an opportunity for the future?

In the past, the long ban on tattoos, which lasted 75 years, gave the practice a bad image in Japan. Although it's still not good, it is evolving, little by little. I think the future of tattooing in Japan is very bright, and I'm grateful to our predecessors who kept it alive during the ban.

In recent years, we've seen that people are collecting Japanese designs in the same way as fans of traditional American designs. How have you perceived this development?

It's good for us that there are more collectors of one-shot wabori (one of the terms used to describe tattooing in Japan, ndr). Things changed when American one-shot tattoos entered Japan around twenty years ago and began to be recognised. Few Japanese over 60 had American tattoos when they were young. Many people in this age group who wear wabori are former yakuza. + IG @makoto_horimatsu