20. Takahiro Kitamura on Koji Ichimaru
My name is Takahiro Kitamura, I’m the curator of this exhibition, and this is a bodysuit by Koji Ichimaru, a piece he did early in his career. Koji has since relocated to Italy and has been tattooing out there. And his client took a pretty long train ride just to come out for the photo shoot, and I think it speaks volumes about the loyalty that clients have to their tattoo artists. You know, after spending so many hours, and this client was very appreciative of Koji’s work and spoke very fondly of him. And I think that’s a lot of the Japanese tattoo, these relationships that develop, and I think that’s one of the big strengths of the Japanese tattoo.
