Kintaro Publishing

Kintaro Publishing Premium Quality Tattoo Books. The Finest Design Inspiration.

Independent Publisher | Tattoo & Art Books
📚 45+ books published | 🌍 40+ countries shipped

✨ Apply to be published → https://kintaro-publishing.com/pages/submit-your-work-for-publication

There has never been easier access to images.⁠⁠But access is not the same as attention.⁠⁠And attention is not the same a...
12/05/2026

There has never been easier access to images.⁠

But access is not the same as attention.⁠

And attention is not the same as study.⁠

That difference matters — especially in tattooing, where so much depends on memory, judgment, repetition, taste, and the slow shaping of the eye.⁠

A serious reference shelf does something scrolling cannot.⁠

It gives you sequence.⁠
It gives you return.⁠
It gives you a relationship to images over time.⁠

Our new post looks at why serious tattooers still collect books in the age of endless images.⁠

Read it via the link:

https://kintaro-publishing.com/blogs/news/why-serious-tattooers-still-collect-books-in-the-age-of-endless-images

Some books are made to impress.⁠Some are made to study.⁠⁠Scrolls II by Horiyoshi III belongs to both worlds — but the re...
10/05/2026

Some books are made to impress.⁠
Some are made to study.⁠

Scrolls II by Horiyoshi III belongs to both worlds — but the reason to return to it is study.⁠

Across 38 scroll paintings, this book opens up master-level irezumi composition, flow, storytelling, and line discipline in a format you can actually spend time with. The vertical gatefolds let the full movement of each piece unfold, so you can study how a composition holds together, where the weight sits, and how the eye is guided from one moment to the next.⁠

This is the kind of reference that slows you down in the right way.⁠

Not something to copy.⁠
Something to learn from.⁠

For tattooers and collectors who value books worth returning to.⁠

Available at Kintaro.

https://kintaro-publishing.com/products/tattoo-books-scrolls-ii-horiyoshi-iii

Some reference teaches through drawing.⁠Some teaches through history.⁠⁠Tokyo Tattoo 1970 is a rare document of tradition...
09/05/2026

Some reference teaches through drawing.⁠
Some teaches through history.⁠

Tokyo Tattoo 1970 is a rare document of traditional Japanese tattooing, photographed up close before it was visible to the wider world.⁠

In 1970, Martha Cooper was welcomed into the studio of Horibun I and given access to a world that was still largely private. What we see here is not only finished work, but process, atmosphere, ritual, and the reality of tebori in motion.⁠

That is what makes this book valuable.⁠

It shows how tattooing lived — on the body, in the studio, and in everyday life.⁠

For tattooers and collectors who value real history as reference.⁠

Available now at Kintaro.

https://kintaro-publishing.com/products/tokyo-tattoo-1970

Now on our website:⁠⁠Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia — Volumes I–III⁠⁠A raw and uncensored archive of Russian pris...
05/05/2026

Now on our website:⁠

Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia — Volumes I–III⁠

A raw and uncensored archive of Russian prison tattoo culture from Danzig Baldaev and Sergei Vasiliev.⁠

These books document tattoos as a coded visual language of status, biography, warning, hierarchy, and survival.⁠

For those interested in tattoo history, visual symbolism, and the darker edges of tattoo culture, this trilogy remains a powerful reference source.⁠

Presented as historical documentation.⁠

Available now at Kintaro.

The strength of this book is not just the artist.⁠It is the depth.⁠⁠Inside Shane Tan – The Complete Collection, you will...
04/05/2026

The strength of this book is not just the artist.⁠
It is the depth.⁠

Inside Shane Tan – The Complete Collection, you will find a broad view of his world: tattoo work, paintings, drawings, and an interview that offers more context for the work behind the finished image.⁠

That matters.⁠

Because the best books do more than show results.⁠
They let us spend time with process, choices, and point of view.⁠

This is the kind of book that keeps opening up the longer you sit with it.⁠

Tap the link to see more from the book: https://kintaro-publishing.com/products/tattoo-books-shane-tan-complete-collection

Good reference is not always found on a page.⁠⁠Sometimes it is waiting in public space.⁠⁠These images are a reminder tha...
03/05/2026

Good reference is not always found on a page.⁠

Sometimes it is waiting in public space.⁠

These images are a reminder that strong reference is not only about motif. It is also about material, surface, rhythm, and presence.⁠

This is why deeper study matters.⁠

It teaches more than what to draw.⁠
It teaches how images live in the world.⁠

Not something to copy.⁠
Something to learn from.⁠

Save this for later.

A good reference book does not stay closed for long.⁠⁠It ends up on the desk.⁠On the counter.⁠In the middle of a consult...
02/05/2026

A good reference book does not stay closed for long.⁠

It ends up on the desk.⁠
On the counter.⁠
In the middle of a consult.⁠
Opened again when an idea needs more depth.⁠

That is the kind of shelf we care about.⁠

Not books collected for display.⁠
Books returned to for study, structure, and sharper seeing.⁠

Show us how Kintaro lives in your studio.⁠
DM us a shelf shot or workspace photo — we’d love to feature a few.

Some books are nice to own.⁠Some books change how we look.⁠⁠Shane Tan – The Complete Collection is one of those books.⁠⁠...
30/04/2026

Some books are nice to own.⁠
Some books change how we look.⁠

Shane Tan – The Complete Collection is one of those books.⁠

This is not just a book to flip through once and put away. It is the kind of book artists and collectors return to — for bold design, clean composition, strong visual rhythm, and a body of work that holds your attention.⁠

In a world full of fast inspiration, this is the kind of reference that slows you down in the right way.⁠

Discover the book via the link: https://kintaro-publishing.com/products/tattoo-books-shane-tan-complete-collection

Tattoo reference does not start with tattoos.⁠⁠Sometimes it starts in cloth.⁠⁠These three garments from the Rijksmuseum ...
29/04/2026

Tattoo reference does not start with tattoos.⁠

Sometimes it starts in cloth.⁠

These three garments from the Rijksmuseum show why Japanese visual culture is worth studying beyond the obvious motif.⁠

— A white bridal uchikake shows how one main image can hold an entire design.⁠
— A blue furisode shows how repetition can stay soft and alive.⁠
— A cream furisode shows how many elements can still move together as one composition.⁠

This is what strong reference does.⁠
It teaches more than what to draw.⁠

It teaches balance, flow, structure, and restraint.⁠

Not something to copy.⁠
Something to learn from.⁠

Save this for later.⁠

Images: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam⁠
Gift of Jan Dees & René van der Star

How do you study Japanese reference without reducing it to imitation?⁠⁠Start here:⁠⁠— movement and body logic⁠— seasonal...
25/04/2026

How do you study Japanese reference without reducing it to imitation?⁠

Start here:⁠

— movement and body logic⁠
— seasonality and restraint⁠
— composition and hierarchy⁠
— variation within a motif⁠
— symbolism beneath the surface⁠

The goal is not to borrow finished answers.⁠
It is to understand what makes an image work.⁠

That is where reference becomes useful.⁠
Not as something to repeat.⁠
As something to learn from.⁠

Our latest post explores five ways tattoo artists can study Japanese reference more deeply — from Edo firefighters and flora to dragons and ukiyo-e.⁠

Read it via the link: https://kintaro-publishing.com/blogs/news/how-tattoo-artists-use-japanese-reference-without-copying

23/04/2026

名古屋での静穏な時間。⁠
閑寂の中、一筆一筆に専心し、その手は淀みなく動く。⁠
墨が形を成し、甲羅用雛形が漸次創出されていく。⁠
彫煥と金太郎出版によるコラボレーション企画進行中。⁠

Quiet hours in Nagoya.⁠
Stillness. Focus. A steady hand at work.⁠
Ink gathers into form — a backpiece design slowly becoming inevitable.⁠
Collaboration in progress with Horikan × Kintaro Publishing.

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