Worldwide : Limited to 500 copies only
Horitoshi The First Photo Album
I am pleased to announce the release of a photo album of Ikebukuro in Tokyo : Horitoshi The First. I, Keiichi Kuwai, the author and photographer, was first introduced to Horitoshi The First in 1995, and since then, I have been a great supporter of Horitoshi The First for nearly 30 years, both publicly and privately. Since then, I have been allowed to bring my camera to work at Horitoshi The First and take many pictures. I have taken not only his completed works, but also scenes of his daily work, some of which were taken while he was drinking, and even photos of his band playing. We also have a wide variety of photos, such as those of his band performing. I also found some photos from Las Vegas in 2007, and one from a swimming trip in Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture, which made me laugh.
In the case of the author, it has been 13 years since all the tattoos were completed in 2008 and the name Horitoshi The Firstwas tattooed on his back for the last time. Of course, I went to Ikebukuro to have Horitoshi The Firsttattooed, but basically, once a week, I spent an hour or two with my master, which became my greatest pleasure, and I have been going to his place of work with this feeling ever since. And I am sure that those of you who have had the opportunity to capture this feeling, for example, in this photo album, will recognize the feeling.
Horitoshi The First Irezumi are an art form
His Irezumi had been great until then, but I think it was around the time Horitoshi The Firstturned 60 years old that he suddenly made a great leap forward, and I remember a time when his tattooing transcended to a stage that was one or two steps different from what he had done before. The greatness of the composition, the dynamism, the expressions of the individual subject matter, the use of color, and the ultimate precision and fineness of detail. I will never forget the day when the tattoo on the skin of a person living in the familiar scenery of my master's workplace, seen through the viewfinder, looked so clearly different from what it had been before.
The current studio of Horitoshi The First has an international aspect, and is crowded with many guests from abroad, probably due to the influence of SNS. At the beginning of 2023, I felt a sense of mission to preserve Horitoshi The First's works, which are truly worthy of being called first-class art, as an official album. At the same time, I also felt a strong desire to help people overseas better understand the traditional and authentic Irezumi of Japan. In this book, I would like to introduce the unique sensitivity and aesthetic sense of the Japanese people, as well as the Japanese people I have also included another theme of the Japanese people's deep-rooted ideas and senses about "Shinrabansho : beauty". I have also included another theme of the Japanese people's deep-rooted ideas and senses about "Shinrabansho : all things in the forest, the 8 million gods" in this book.
We are well aware that many people have negative impressions of traditional Japanese tattooing, but the true form of modern tattooing is an art form that is the result of Horitoshi The First's years of hard work and dedication, and the boldness of its artists, who are always interested in improving their skills. We would like to invite you to take a look at the amazing works of our beloved master Horitoshi The First.
- Photographed and created by : Keiichi KUWAI 2023.4/21
- Special edition Horitoshi The First photo album : only 500 copies available worldwide!
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Horitoshi Photo Album / World wide Limited to 500 copies only
Special Edition Horitoshi The FirstPhoto Album : Only 500 copies available worldwide
> We will ship by EMS to overseas.