There is a well used expression in Japan “Ishi no ue ni mo sannen” which translates literally as “three years on a rock”. The reason that it has been passed down for generations, from masters to apprentices, in all artforms and crafts, is the inherent truth of it's advice: In order to learn something substantial, something of true value - be it a new job, craft or discipline of some form - one should be prepared to endure three years of training and study with little or no initial visible reward or sense of tangible progress.

Many of us in the west do not really understand the value of such a sacrifice, and it is only when you come across a true master that you begin to understand the real worth of such a path. For myself, arriving in Japan for the second time, to work at Horiyoshi III’s studio 3, I really had no idea what to expect, having found myself in close proximity to one of the world’s truly great tattoo masters. As an alien in a foreign culture (so deeply steeped in tradition, yet enthusiastically on the path to an increasingly technological world) I found myself struggling at times to comprehend the complexity of the history and culture behind the Japanese tattoo tradition, and the daily protocol of the structures behind it all. A month and a half later, I am still just as ignorant of a lot of this history and complex cultural structures, but, through various conversations with Horiyoshi and this interview, I came just one step closer to understanding a very old tradition that is being kept alive by Horiyoshi III and his family.

Please note: the translation of Japanese into English is a very hard process, as the two languages are completely worlds apart. The replies written here are the translated replies of Horiyoshi III, and in many circumstances the process was quite difficult to translate Japanese words, which can often describe entire concepts or emotions which in English may not seem to even make sense, into understandable English. So as a result, I have had to edit the initial transcripts into an understandable format. I would like to thank my translator Mark Robinson for his help in this interview.

Josh Roelink: Horiyoshi, can you remember the first time you saw a tattoo?
Horiyoshi III: Yes... I was about eleven or twelve in a public bathhouse.

JR: And you liked?
H: Yes, maybe... very interested. Very. Very.

JR: When did you yourself start getting tattooed?
H: I did by myself (motions in a hand-picking movement..) a swastika.

JR: And then by Horiyoshi 1?
H: No, Horiyoshi II (from Yokohama, not to be confused with Horiyoshi II of the book series “Horiyoshi’s world” - of Tokyo) make first my back... 25 years, no... 21.

JR: How long were you a student of Horiyoshi 1?
H: That's difficult... my situation was a bit different from normal; before I became a deshi (student, disciple...), I worked for six months.

JR: So you were a deshi for how long?
H: It’s very hard to say where it starts and where it ends, my feelings are I am still his deshi - very difficult.

JR: When did you start outlining by machine?
H: After Roma, (convention) about thirteen years ago.

JR: Why the change?
H: Machine has strong points and some weak points - by hand, too. It's a balance. Good points (of machine) and good point (of tebori, hand technique) together.