Initially drawing in freehand and then using needles and bamboo tools to fill in detail and color, Horiyoshi III will spend years creating a tattoo for clients willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to have their skin etched with one of his masterworks.

Johnnie Shand Kydd who shot this beautiful video for Nowness describes Horiyoshi’s work:

“They are called skin carvers [because the process involves] sharpened bamboo being pushed again and again into the skin, creating gradations like you would in a brush stroke on a painting. That’s where he shows himself as a great artist. Acting on impulse and creating harmony where there wasn’t beforehand.”

Below, Japanese master skin carver Horiyoshi III working his magic.