Tebori, A Traditional Japanese Hand Tattoo

Japanese tattoos are known for their bold lines, historic patterns and imagery, and total body coverage. The techniques for tattooing that developed in Japan used hand tools, and it wasn't until the mid 20th century that machines first came to Japanese tattooing. In Japan, tattoos are often larger-scale full sleeve or leg tattoos, and entire bodysuit tattoos which cover from neckline to wrists to ankles.

Tebori or traditional Japanese tattoo involves using a set of needles attached to the end of a handle made of wood or metal. The tattooist dips the needles in ink and creates a tattoo by pressing the needles rapidly and rhythmically into the skin. The method of penetrating the skin by hand is much the same as an electric tattoo machine with the difference being that the capillary action of opening the skin is different. According to many Tebori enthusiasts, the hand method does not do as much tissue damage as is possible with an electric needle.

Tebori is just as safe as machine tattooing. Like any professional tattoo studio, the needles and the handles are sterilized in an autoclave before they're used. However, because this traditional method takes longer, it therefore tends to hurt more. Many people who have been tattooed in this traditional Japanese way claim that the pressure itself does not hurt as much as tattoo machine but is a different type of pain. In modern day, people tend to have an aversion to pain because of years of conditioning telling them that the pain is bad.

It is made to be even harder when most artists are conditioned to hold the tools at the tip the way you would hold a pencil. Whereas traditional Japanese masters of the technique hold the handle at its far end which is much harder. As a result the time factor from being a Tebori apprentice to a fully fledged Tebori master is so much longer than it would take a Western tattoo apprentice to learn the ropes.