Friday 15 April 2016

Horitomo's Cattoos

Kazuaki Kitamura (nicknamed "Horitomo") is a Japanese tattoo artist who is skilled not only in the use of an electric tattoo gun, but also in the much more painful traditional art of tattooing by hand.

A cat lover, Horitomo has produced a delightful series of prints called "Monmon Cats" (which I believe simply means tattooed cats or perhaps "cattoos"). Some are whimsical and some are fierce. Indeed, some are so fierce that people call them "Yakuza Cats" (after the notorious Japanese mafia-style gangsters).






This next one is entitled "Severed Head and Sakura" (cherry blossoms). It sends a real mixed message, doesn't it? Nice samurai blade though, kitty!


Of course, Horitomo also tattoos his cats directly on clients --


And here is the artist himself, with a non-tattooed friend --


35 comments:

Mark said...

I've done it. I've found who I wished I grew up to be. I think the only thing more dangerous than a cat or a yakuza member is a yakuza cat.

Anonymous said...

wow, beautiful work!

DEZMOND said...

the one with the blade freaks me out... not that I think my own cat wouldn't kill me one day.... by tripping me....

Rosemary said...

I expect he uses his own cat as inspiration - the more you look the more you see.

Lynn said...

I love the calico! Reminds me of my late Cleo, who was a bad-ass cat - she would have loved a tattoo.

Mistress Maddie said...

WOW!!! That first one is amazing!

The Happy Whisk said...

Very well done and powerful images, to boot.

Happy Weekend to you and a yummy day, ahead :-)

yellowdoggranny said...

never heard of this..but I do love it.

Cperz said...

I find those tattoos amazing!! Just beautiful...While I favor the ones with the sweeter (less fierce) faces, they are all really lovely.

mxtodis123 said...

Awesome. Great talent.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

That severed head/samari cat looks like he creeped out of a feline horror flick. Yikes.

Miss Val's Creations said...

These are fantastic! What a great artist! I have always loved Japanese style art and this is a fun twist.

Marie Smith said...

Beautiful work!

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

Very, very cool!!!!

Jim said...

Thanks for this intro, Debra. He does nice work!

Rommy said...

I seriously love these, especially Severed Head and Sakura.

Adam said...

he's very talented

Bill Lisleman said...

cattoos - I'll be looking for that word in my digital travels.

bj said...

I'm not a cat lover..I love some tattoos and I think a person that does these tattoos is an artist, indeed.

Magaly Guerrero said...

The expression on the face of the first cat is priceless.

Tattoo by hand, huh? Some brave people (and cats) out there.

Martha said...

Amazing artwork. A lot of great talent there!

Gia said...

Cattoos!!! Suddenly realizing that if i ever got a tattoo, it'd be a cat.

This N That said...

The tats belong on his clients...not the kitties...very talented though!!

Guillaume said...

Well, I am not into tattoos but I am into cats. So if I ever get a tattoo, it will be from this artist.

Jeanne said...

These are AWESOME! I think if I were to have ever gotten a tattoo, it would be a Cattoo. Thanks for sharing!

e said...

How very meta! A samurai cat tattooing another cat... and, is that a bottle of sake I see? Oh yeah, bad ass cat for sure!

Magic Love Crow said...

What an amazing artist! I love his cat! Great post!

bj said...

Hidy doo, Debra..and thanks for coming by...
Bunco is a dice game.....
we are getting rain tonight and it is sooo good...gonna sleep really good tonight.

Ms Misantropia said...

Pretty kitties!

Me said...

Niiiiice! It's so original and well done!

Under the willow tree said...

awww what a lovely post Debra :) I loving visiting your blog from time to time ...it always bring a smile to my face..Have a lovely week and keeping updating us with your lovely and informative posts :) x x

Under the willow tree said...

sorry I meant ..I love visiting..

No Sacrifice Bags said...

I love all of these cats! I would love to have a few prints. Off to google the artist.

laughingwolf said...

...neat

the long sword is a katana; shorter one is a wakizashi; knife length, is a tanto....

Fundy Blue said...

Wow, I've not seen anything like this before! fascinating. You're not thinking of getting a tattoo of HRH, are you? Maybe by Horitomo? LOL!