Tebori

Traditional work with Tebori stick 2019

Tebori ( Japanese 手 彫 り ) is the traditional Japanese way of creating tattoos by hand using simple tools.

process

Japanese tattooing uses ink that is manually stabbed into the skin - a technique known as tebori. A Tebori stick is used, traditionally a bamboo stick approx. 30–40 cm long, to which the needle bundle (hari) is attached with a thread at one end . The paint is placed in a small sponge beforehand and picked up with the needle bundle as required. This technique requires a lot of practice, but allows the tattoo artist to create tattoos with great precision and control by varying the depth of the stitch.

Tattoo artists who practice this technique are called horishi (彫 り 師). The prefix Hori means something like dig or insert.

Well-known Tebori tattoo artists

• Horiyoshi III.

literature

• Jill 'Horiyuki' Mandelbaum: Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey Into the Japanese Tattoo. Schiffer Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7643-2968-5 .
• Marcel Feige: The Tattoo and Piercing Lexicon. Lexikon-Imprint-Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-209-1 .
• Mark Poysden, Marco Bratt: A history of Japanese body suit tattooing. KIT Publishers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 9-074-82275-4 .
• Sandi Fellman: The Japanese Tattoo. Abbeville Press, New York 1986, ISBN 0-89659-798-9 .
• Donald Richie, Ian Buruma: The Japanese Tattoo. Weatherhill, New York 1980, ISBN 0-8348-0149-3 .
• Japan Traditional –Tebori. in Tattoo Kulture Magazine Issue No. 8 of April 27, 2015.

Web links

• metanomicon.net: Tebori Tattoos (English), accessed January 20, 2014
• selvedgeyard.com: ANCIENT ART OF THE JAPANESE TEBORI TATTOO MASTERS | INK IN HARMONY , accessed January 20, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heike Klovert: Japanese tattoo art A dragon for the office stallion In: spiegel.de of July 16, 2015.
2. ↑ The materials used vary depending on the region and tattoo artist.