Horiyasu, born 1953, is a Japanese tattooist, specializing in Irezumi (traditional Japanese tattoos). He is one of the most respected contemporary tattooists in Japan.

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Horiyasu, otherwise known as Asakusa Horiyasu, was a samurai-sword smith. He started working with blades at the age of 20 and mastered the craft for 16 years in Iwate Prefecture. He got his first tattoo at the age of 21. Horiyasu turned to tattooing at the age of 36.

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He learned by studying works of such Ukiyo-e artists as Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Katsushika Hokusai. In a 2013 Skin Deep Magazine interview he recalled that at first he didn't know anything and learned by watching an older horishi in Morioka.

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