Japanese tattoo was a secret art form in the early 1970s. The masters ofthe traditional techniques were working in small studios and tattooingwas something for a distinguished few. No one could foresee theincredible rise of the art of tattoo internationally in the past 20 years.Horibun I worked with traditional Japanese methods, tattoos made byhand, with different sized needles bound to sticks which he dipped intocoloured inks. His motifs were all derived from traditional Japaneselegends.Horibun I was a rare tattooist, as he was open to letting a foreignercome to photograph him and his customers.Tokyo Tattoo 1970 tells the story of a Japanese tattoo master and hiswork. Readers see him at work, meet his customers, who show theirtattoos, and follow Horibun on a pilgrimage to a holy Shinto shrine.Martha Cooper's pictures show the process of the tattooist's work aswell as finished motifs from an era long gone.Tokyo Tattoo was Martha Cooper's first study of a subculture, whichlaunched her on a ten-year-long immersion into the graffiti and streetart of New York City.