Launched on 25 September 2021 on Ulule, the crowdfunding campaign for the printing of the tattoo writer book ended on 30 October 2021.

In the space of just over a month, 370 contributors responded to the appeal launched on Ulule to bring the book to life. A few months later, the book, which features previously unpublished photographs of Japanese tattooing taken by writer Akimitsu Takagi in Tokyo in the 1950s, went to print. The first edition was enthusiastically received and sold out in just a few weeks.

Three years’ work rewarded

This success was the reward for a long period of publishing work. It took several years of research and investigation, between France and Japan. These images, forgotten in the library of a great Japanese writer of 20th century detective novels, were not accompanied by any notes or information. We had to find a narrative thread, a context, a way of reading these images. It was a fascinating piece of work on a previously unpublished account of the history of tattooing in 20th-century Japan.

A priceless testimony

Discovered in 2017, these photographs were saved from imminent extinction. They are now an important record of an art form that still has no history. For lack of documentation. Long underground, banned for over 80 years until 1948, tattooing in Japan is still seeking recognition in its own country. This photographic archive contributes to the creation of a material memory of an art that is by its very nature ephemeral.

So, once again, thank you all!  🙏🙏🙏🤘💥

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