This a review from one of our clients and friends who experienced his first Tebori session at Irezumi Art Tattoo Studio in Shrewsbury.
“Today, and thanks to my good friend Hori Isra Takjo I achieved something I had always wanted to do. I had a traditional Tebori (Hand Inserted) style tattoo session. Having only ever been on the receiving end of machine tattoos in the past, the chance for some traditional inking was too good an opportunity to miss.
I will be honest, I was very nervous to begin with, having read how very painful the tattooing method was. However, I was privileged enough to watch Isra bind and prepare the needle (well a row of needles) to be used on me that session. This in its own right obviously took some skill, and once finished was itself a thing of beauty.
After deciding which part of my design to colour in (and in what colours) Isra made a start. After pushing his finger into my chest a few times, I realised that the tattoo had already started, and it was in fact the needles that were pushing into my muscle. And in response to the Tebori method, the whole side of my chest moved with every push. In fact the actual tattooing felt more like a deep, vigorous massage than any inking I had received previously. But the occasional sharp pain served to remind me that this was definitely a tattoo I was having done. Without the mechanical hum and click of the tattoo machines I was used to, the experience changed totally, becoming almost pure meditation, with the massaging movements of the needle and the taka, taka, taka of the needles pricking my skin to focus upon.
It’s now been about 3 hours since the tattoo session ended, I have no swelling, no soreness, no stiffness in the muscle… and can only assume that this tattoo will heal much faster than the others I have had.
In short, if you wish to experience something innately Japanese within your Japanese style tattoo, I would recommend popping along to Irezumi Art and having a chat with Isra, he is a great guy with a genuine passion for Japanese and East-Asian tattooing methods.
Also, to the best of my knowledge he is the only person offering the Tebori method in the UK Midlands.
I for one, will be going back for more!”
T. McCarnun
