Yes, I got a tattoo during my recent trip to Japan! At the world-renowned Three Tides Tattoo in Tokyo, after doing my research and planning far in advance to snag an appointment there.

This blog post will detail my experience of getting a tattoo in Japan and can act as a guide for others looking to do the same.

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I am in awe of my new tattoo. It turned out better than I could have imagined and I absolutely love it. Why a red dragon tattoo, you may ask? Because it is awesome. Enough said. This is my third tattoo and counting. Luckily this time around was a much simpler experience than with my last tattoo…

As you may recall, during my visit to South Korea earlier this year I got an “illegal” tattoo by the popular artist, Nando Tattooer. Make sure to read the blog post about it if you haven’t already! It was an experience I will never forget. But luckily, getting a tattoo in Japan is totally legal which made the process much simpler than that one was.

Three Tides Tattoo

After deciding that I wanted to get a tattoo during my short visit to Japan, it was time to research tattoo studios. While a number of studios came up, Three Tides immediately grabbed my attention. Mostly because I truly appreciated their style with its mix of old traditional artwork and more modern flairs and also because of their notoriety. Let’s be honest. People know the name Three Tides Tattoo, and that’s kind of exciting, not to mention the fact that to be recognized in your industry you must be very good at what you do.

Three Tides Tattoo is a very well known tattoo studio in Japan, their first location in Osaka having such success (there’s a Vice documentary with them!) that they opened a second location in Tokyo’s eclectic Harajuku. This was perfect for me since we would be spending 3 days in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, not far from Harajuku, on our trip. Check out their work!

Three Tides Tattoo Website
Three Tides Tattoo Instagram

Making the Appointment

Three Tides Tattoo was the only studio that I ended up contacting because, luckily for me, I got a response within a day. In my initial email I outlined the dates that I would be available in Tokyo as describe what I wanted for the tattoo itself. Azusa, one of the talented artists at the Tokyo location, responded to my inquiry. She told me the pricing for the tattoo based on the size and style I was looking for (all of their pricing is on their website so you know exactly what to expect). I agreed. She provided me with a date and time for the appointment and I made a deposit via PayPal to confirm it.

So be aware, there was a 10800 yen deposit to reserve an appointment, about the equivalent of $108 US dollars. I’m sure being a very busy, popular studio with plenty of other appointments that could fill any given day, they want to make sure that they aren’t wasting their time with someone who isn’t committed and might not show up. Luckily this cost goes towards the price of your tattoo, so you don’t have to feel too bad. They just want commitment. After sending the deposit I was all set until my appointment in a couple months. Note: It is advised to contact the studio well in advance! Erica tried to get an appointment in the same time frame just a few days later and they were fully booked.

Day of the Appointment

On the day of the scheduled appointment I did start to get worried after not receiving any follow up emails about my appointment. But Erica and I showed up to the tattoo studio at my scheduled time of 12:00pm and told the front desk attendant that I had an appointment. He glanced at some list, confirmed my name and what tattoo I was getting and told us to take a seat, I’d be up soon. So, there was nothing to worry about (I’m just an anxious individual who is never not going to worry about these things).

Erica and I took a seat on the couch inside the front entry of the shop. The walls were covered in various Three Tides Tattoo merch, everything from shoes to shirts and even pins featuring their unique, traditional Japanese-style designs. About a half hour passed and people came and went from the little studio. It was a Saturday and they were probably as busy as ever.

The man covered in tattoos that had been sitting behind the main desk at a table in the corner, who I later learned was Ganji, approached me with a drawing. It was the sketch for my dragon tattoo! After getting my approval for the design and the size for my tattoo, Ganji returned to his table behind the front counter where he then drew the design onto a transfer. When he was done, he motioned for me to follow him up the tucked away staircase near the entry. I asked and luckily Erica would be allowed to come with me.

I would be getting my tattoo done by Ganji. Because my email communication had been with Azusa, I admittedly thought that she would be the one doing my tattoo. But Azusa’s style is very modern, and Ganji’s more traditional style artwork made him perfect to do my traditional Japanese dragon tattoo anyway. So I didn’t mind whatsoever, but it could have been nice to know my artist ahead of time.

We followed Ganji up the narrow stairs to the floor above. It was a small space but they managed to fit a waiting bench and two or three different tattooing tables within. The room was eclectically decorated with artwork and had a full length mirror on one wall. Erica made herself at home on the bench and we made a pile of our purses and purchases from the Tsukiji Fish Market at its side. I took off my shirt and Ganji taped the straps of my bra to the sides so that my back would be fully exposed. He aligned his drawing along my spine and, with my approval, transferred the ink from the paper onto my back. The tattoo tables resembled cushioned hospital beds. I awkwardly climbed onto the center tattooing table to lie on my stomach while Ganji prepared the ink and gun on a small work table beside it. He asked me if I was ready, I nodded. The tattoo gun buzzed to life.

Getting the Tattoo!

Well, it definitely hurt. A lot. This was something that I was nervous about leading up to this moment. But it was bearable. Every time the needle touched my skin I began counting, stopping when he lifted the pen to restart again. The highest number that I counted to was 16. It hurt the most for the first few dragging moments every time that the pen made contact with my skin, and then the pain seemed to turned to numbness after awhile almost as some form of my body protecting itself. One of my first thoughts was I’m going to have to deal with this pain for hours? Not that I would have stopped just because of something like pain, I’m too stubborn for that, but even if I had wanted to I couldn’t. I couldn’t just walk away with a few random red lines carved into my back! No, I had to see this through. Even if it meant counting the seconds of pain, trying not to wince, and tightly gripping the edge of the table for as long as necessary.

Poor Erica. I kept making awkward, pained expressions at her. I stared at her to distract myself from the pain. And I watched as she filmed the entire process, getting different angles and close up shots, going above and beyond (featured in the video above). What a great friend – thank you, Erica!

My arms were going numb and my neck began to strain because I didn’t want to risk repositioning and messing Ganji up as he worked diligently. I was still counting the seconds of pain and switching between watching Erica and closing my eyes. Ganji gently washed my back, probably to check his progress before continuing. But then he said “Finished”. Already?? Despite the slow moving seconds caused by my discomfort, I knew it couldn’t have even been an hour yet. I had been fully expecting to be lying there for hours. My snake tattoo took almost 3 hours! I obviously wasn’t complaining though.

I peeled myself off of the table and Ganji passed me a hand mirror. Using this and the full wall mirror I surveyed the new piece of artwork adorning my skin. Before the appointment, I had had a few moments of doubt. Was I being too crazy? Should I get something smaller? Those doubts all vanished. I LOVED IT! It was better than I could have imagined. As Erica then told me, it was badass.

After we had finished taking a million photos and videos… Ganji bandaged my new tattoo and we headed downstairs to pay at the front desk. In my email communication with Azusa months previously, I had asked if I would be able pay with credit card. She said that I could, but suggested to pay in cash if possible as there would be an 8% fee with a credit card. I ended up accepting the fee and paying with my credit card for convenience’s sake.

In total, my tattoo ended up costing 62,121 JYP or about $560 USD. This may seem like a lot to some, but this is a price I am willing to pay at a talented studio for a high quality tattoo that will adorn my skin forever. If you are looking for a cheaper option, there are many other smaller tattoo studios and artists in Japan you can find during the research stage of this guide. Their pricing should be available on their website so you know what you’re getting into. If it’s not, contact them and ask about it before committing to an appointment. Luckily, Japan is a no-tipping culture so there is one less cost you have to worry about.

Aftercare

The Day Of

The aftercare instructions that I received from Three Tides Tattoo slightly varied from the ones I had followed from Nando Tattooer just months before. The care sheet said that in 3 hours I could remove the bandage and gently wash the tattoo with warm soapy water and apply an antibacterial ointment (I ended up using vaseline as I had with my snake tattoo since that was all I had brought with me in preparation). The sheet stated to repeat this three times a day until the tattoo was fully healed.

The new tattoo was like a fresh burn, stinging with any movement and screaming at any touch. But luckily I had a very kind and gracious friend willing to slowly peel away the bandage when we returned to the hotel that night and to gingerly wash my back and apply vaseline. Erica if you are reading this you are the best, seriously! Expect some ink to wipe away during this initial stage. Unfortunately as we were in a hotel, we ended up staining some of the room’s towels with red ink… my bad.

The Flight Home

I hadn’t really thought through the fact that the day after getting a back tattoo I would be sitting on an airplane for 11 hours. Thank goodness I had chosen a window seat, because I ended up twisting my body to lay my side awkwardly against the window rather than on my back against the seat itself. #BLESSED. I had planned on visiting the tiny airplane restroom at least once during the long flight to reapply vaseline, but the person beside me remained in a deep slumber the entire flight (it was impressive really, though they missed their on-flight meal so I’m not sure who the real winner was) and I was too awkward to wake them to get out. Oh well. As soon as the plane landed I visited a restroom in the airport to awkwardly rub my back in vaseline, and as soon as I got home Peter kindly washed my back and reapplied the vaseline for me. It helps to have friends when you get a back tat!

Healing Time

It took about a week for the pain to go away. But instead of pain, the tattoo began to itch as it healed. I did NOT itch it despite the maddening itchiness – it’s not worth risking your precious new tattoo. The only relief I got was when I put more vaseline on and the itching momentarily calmed. But after another week, this itching vanished as well. All in all, it took only a few weeks for my tattoo to completely heal. I’m sure this timing varies with each individual tattoo depending on size, fill, and other variables but this was my experience.

Would you get a tattoo in Japan?

Don’t worry, I won’t get a new tattoo every time I travel somewhere new… I just don’t have enough skin for all the traveling I plan to do. But I absolutely love my new tattoo and can’t wait to buy backless clothing from now on to show it off. Thanks for stopping by my blog! And if you haven’t read the blog post on getting a tattoo in South Korea, make sure to check that out before you go.

Would you get a tattoo in Japan or some other country? What would you get? Tell me in the comments!

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