The only place in Japan dedicated to the history of body ink is the Yokohama Tattoo Museum.
Packed with venerable tools, prints and photographs, it catalogs the turbulent development of Japanese tattooing, including a large display of the numerous historic prohibitions against the art form. Other exhibits detail the inked cultures of Okinawa and Hokkaido, as well as Taiwan where, in the early 20th century with the island under Japanese rule, tribal tattooing was outlawed primarily to eradicate the associated custom of headhunting.
Featured in many international guidebooks, the museum is popular among overseas visitors. However, despite the government's campaigns to tout Cool Japan, the museum — not to mention Japanese tattooing in general — remains missing from the official tourist trail.