Q: What is Seppuku?
A: Seppuku (seh’-pü-cü) is a Japanese term found in bus hi do, the discipline practiced by samurai, and is self disembowelment with one’s own weapon in the face of failure; an honorable death being more preferred than a dishonorable life. In western culture, this can be interpreted as “Death Before Dishonor”. It is this ideal that will drive our commitment to our clientele.

Q: Why are tattoos so expensive?
A: Short answer - “Good tattoos ain’t cheap, cheap tattoos ain’t good.” Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins.

Long answer - There are many factors that have contributed to the pricing of tattoos, not just locally but globally. The value of art as a whole, the legitimacy and legalization of tattooing, maintaining hospital level conditions, bio hazardous waste pick management, quality equipment, the skill of a given artist, the years spend apprenticing and mastering the technical aspects, all are parts of an equation.

You have to understand that for even a simple tattoo to be applied and applied well, a lot has to happen to make the experience a success. The tattooist has to have dedicated himself to his chosen profession, perhaps at many sacrifices, not the least of which is carrying the ongoing social stigma attached to tattooing. The individual will have forsaken other venues of employment, and undergone a grueling apprenticeship, sometimes for years, sometimes scraping by as a starving artist. Many times, the demands of becoming a tattooist will make the artist unemployable in most other professions.

In some areas of the country, tattooing is still illegal. The overall costs of tattooing as a whole are affected by this, as artists may spend their life savings on lawyers in battles for their Constitutionally protected rights to free speech and expression.

The studio will have to comply to a host of regulations that do not apply to other businesses. The studio will have to maintain the same level of sterility found in a dentist’s office, without the benefit of any medical organization footing the bills. The floors, walls, ceilings, counters, furniture and medical equipment all have to comply to health department standards. The given artist will be using only the best pigments, needles, machines and other equipment in applying the tattoo, and all such materials are rather expensive. Each tattoo will employ a set up of one time use disposable medical equipment; surgical tape, instruments pads, individual ink caps, sterilization bags, film barriers, surgical soaps, disposable gloves, cups, razors, needles, sharps containers, bio waste receptacles, and so on.

Some may try to shave off some of the overhead costs by using cheaper supplies, and unfortunately there is an entire sub-industry of sellers pushing inferior inks, ratty tattoo machines, or items that simply do not work as advertised. This is one many reasons why some brand new tattoos end up looking twenty years old. And those who have the lack of ethics to skimp on supplies most likely do not have the proper respect or discipline to become properly trained in consummate tattooing technique, and will take short cuts in the application.

When evaluating how you feel about art and trying to calculate its worth, I would ask you to do a little pro rating on other items you spend money on. ‘Pro rating’ is calculating how much a particular item costs you per day for the life of the item,... for example, if you trick out a new Ford Explorer with a good sound system, new rims, and a host of options, you may spend close to $100,000 on a plastic toy that won’t really last long enough to hand down to your children. On the other hand, if a $200 tattoo last you for the rest of your life, the cost per day is a fraction of a penny. When you look at it like that, tattoos are practically free.

The frugal client may not be aware of some of these factors going for their first or second tattoos, and may simply be shopping based on price. If there is any doubt that the adage ‘You get what you pay for’ is true in tattooing, click on http://www.badtattoos.com, and see for yourself!

Q: Wow, those are terrible! Can you remove tattoos like that?
A: Short answer: Yes. Laser surgery is capable of removing a tattoo.

Long answer: Laser surgery can be problematic. Just as there are different skill levels for tattooist's, there certainly are various grades of success among laser surgeons. In our experience, we’ve seen horrible examples of laser surgery; heavy scar tissue, failure to remove all the ink, skin mauled to look like wads of chewed bubble gum. Laser surgery is far more expensive than tattooing, and is far more painful. Remember that lasers are accelerated light particles, and the tempurature of laser light is a few thousand degrees.

Q: What are the alternatives to laser surgery?
A: Tattooists can either rework an older, faded piece, going over the entire tattoo again, and making it look the way it should have looked in the first place, or they can completely cover an existing tattoo with another design so no one could ever tell the first tattoo existed. You can see examples of this process in our portfolios. Keep in mind that many of the poorly done ‘before’ tattoos were not done in prison or a friend’s basement, but at known shops in the tri-state area.

Q: Are reworks or cover ups more expensive?
A: Generally, yes. Even if a rework is not adding on to an existing tattoo, there will be factors the artist will have to deal with, like skin trauma or scar tissue left from an amatuerly applied tattoo, or figuring out to make muddy, blackened areas bright with color, that make a rework more time consuming than working on a fresh piece of skin.

A cover up usually involves going larger than the original tattoo. Tattoo ink is not opaque, it tends to be somewhat translucent, which is why you can’t simply tattoo skin colored ink over an old tattoo, the darker colors will overpower the lighter ones. So in order to completely hide an older design, using some new skin and using a bigger piece is required.

The fact that reworks and cover ups will cost you more money, as well as more time, and more pain, should be incentive enough for you to choose a quality shop the first time around.

Q: Pain?? PAIN?? Tattoos hurt?
A: Oh yes.

Q: Really? Well, how much?
A: That answer will be different for every person. On the whole, tattoos aren’t all that bad. Tattoos are applied with a small grouping of needles, that will move rapidly in and out of just the top few layers of the epidermis. They do not penetrate anywhere near as deep as a doctor’s needle, which is a hypodermic and will pierce through epidermis, dermis, fat and tissue to find a vein. Some people describe the sensation as a sting, a burn, or a mild abrasion. Most people will tell you they can’t exactly describe the pain properly.

During a tattoo of any length, the body starts to produce its own natural pain killer in the form of endorphins. Many people will be a bit taken at first by the initial suprise of the needles, and then settle into the session rather nicely. Some people will say that they even enjoy the pain process, as an experience that makes you feel alive.

People will also experience different levels of pain on different parts of their bodies. Again, everyone is different, and each person will handle each part differently than the next person. And there is no real way to tell who will be a good ‘patient’ or not; we have seen petite eighteen year old girls come in and get extensive tattoos for their first time, and sit as still as if they were just having a cup of tea. On the other hand, we’ve had gigantic 300 pound weightlifters who work as bouncers come in and pass out just looking at the needle.

Q: Pass out? You pass out when getting tattooed?!
A: Rarely. 90% of the time this has nothing to do with pain or anything physical, its all in the mind of the client not knowing what to expect and working themselves into a panic. Sometimes it is a result of low blood sugars form not eating all day, exhaustion, or pushing the metabolism too hard, like getting a tattoo after an all night binge. This is why it’s a good idea to have something to eat before you get a tattoo.

Q: So, which are the good spots to get tattooed?
A: The right answer to this question, again, will be different for every person. Some beginners will go jumping into a spot that will make a veteran wince, and have no problems at all.

Generally, the outsides of the arms and lower legs are the most tolerant areas. Really stingy areas are the extremities, like the hands or feet. Ribs are notoriously uncomfortable, some will say the sternum, some will say across the belly.

However, the question of pain really shouldn’t be a factor of where a tattoo should go. Don’t let some very short lived and temporary discomfort dictate where you will wear a tattoo for the rest of your life.

Q: What about pain killers? Can’t you give me something that will lessen the pain?
A: Not without a doctorate, I can’t.

There are several problems that can be caused by employing pain killers. The various types of oral pain killers may actually affect your blood chemistry, thinning it, and causing you to bleed. If the bleeding is bad enough, it may actually remove some of the pigment the artist was trying to put in, resulting in a faded washy look when the piece is fully healed. Oral pain killers may also not eliminate the pain completely, may make the client feel dopey or spacey, and may actually contribute to making the whole process worse.

Topical pain killers, like Lidocaine, or any of the variety of ‘caines’ available on the market, has an unfortunate habit of opening up the pores of the skin, to the extent that the skin becomes spongy as the capillaries dilate. The result is a very poor heal, the scabs can get as big and ugly as a multicolored oatmeal cookie, and the colors of the healed tattoo will be faded and totally unacceptable. Which means returning for heavy touch ups, which means more pain, which defeats the purpose of using a pain killer.

Many of these topical pain killers were never manufactured for use in tattooing, and certainly were never meant to be injected under the skin.

A tattoo veteran will tell you that the pain is as indispensable to the process as the art is. Or, as the German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche said, “Whatever does not kill you will only make you stronger.”

Q: OK, so no pain killers,... what if I take a few shots of liquid pain killer?
A: Despite the fact that our studio is located across the street from a drive thru liquor store, getting a tattoo under the influence isn’t going to help anything. Again, alcohol can help thin the blood, making for a weak tattoo. Alcohol normally will not kill the pain, either, usually it will just relocate it, like to the base of your skull.

Q: Ok, so no booze,... how about some herb?
A: While marijuana, which is not only illegal, but safer to consume than aspirin or alcohol, again, is of no real use in alleviating tattoo pain. In fact, jumpier people may have the adverse result, and work themselves up into a paranoid fervor, that makes time move slower and simply drags out the entire procedure.

It is the policy of Seppuku Tattoo, as well as any reputable tattoo establishment, to never tattoo anyone under the influence of any controlled substance. In addition to being mandatory for any professional environment, it is also state law.

Q: You said touch ups. Will I have to get my tattoo touched up?
A: Short answer - no.

Long answer - There are several factors that could affect the way a tattoo heals. A tattoo on thin skin, or skin that is in a constant state of motion, like the inside of the elbow, or joint of a finger, will impede the proper healing of a tattoo, and may require a quick touch up. Tattoos that are heavily covered up, like shoes on feet, can affect healing and may need a touch up. Not following the instructions concerning the aftercare of a tattoo as laid out by your tattooist will definitely result in poor healing. For example, picking at your tattoo before the pigment has time to settle can lead to small gaps or fallout. Smothering your skin in greasy ointment will suffocate your skin and lead to the same results. Using something never intended for tattoos, like hydrogen peroxide, can actually flush color out of a still healing tattoo. Healing tattoos should never be soaked, especially in salt water. Excessive sunlight, even long after a tattoo is healed, can drastically alter the look of the color.

Seppuku Tattoo guarantees its work. Any touching up that your new tattoo may require that was not the result of negligent actions will be done at no additional cost to the wearer.

Q: Can you use white ink in tattoos?
A: Short answer - Yes.

Long answer - Every tattoo is about four or five layers deep into the epidermis. These skin layers contain their own pigment, called melanin. Even the lightest skin person contains some traces of melanin. So when you are viewing a healed tattoo, you are looking at it through a ‘filter’, as it were, of those extra skin layers and their natural color. Many times when white ink is tattooed, it is as white as the day it was applied, but is just dimmed by some darker skin. A good tattooist will gauge his skill and technique against the depth of color present in his client’s skin, and judge how much white he can safely use.

Q: Will you tattoo all white tattoos?
A: We highly recommend against these tattoos, especially if you spend any amount of time in the sun at all.

Q: What about using glow in the dark ink?
A: Fifty years ago, phosphorescence pigments used in paints and inks were actually radioactive, which is why they glowed. This is why so many grandmothers who spend WW2 painting the instrument panels on submarine dials are experiencing so many problems with skin cancer. Even without the radioactivity, any glow in the dark inks are completely synthetic, and we cannot in good conscience inject them into people’s skin.

Q: What about using florescent inks, or black light tattoos?
A: Florescent ink contain colors that exist outside the naturally occurring visible spectrum, and therefore are completely artificial as well. Although there have been some successful experiments with florescent colors, there have also been some harsh reactions, enough so that again, as with glow in the dark inks, we cannot utilize them safely with assurance.

Q: Doesn’t the Bible forbid tattoos?
A: Lemme tell ya a story,... this is a piece I wrote for our old fanzine, and will explain the answer in full.

“Do you read the Bible, Ringo?” Jules, ‘Pulp Fiction’

So, we’re crammed into the Continental, sweaty, tiny, punk rock dive bar that has been picking up a lot of the slack left over after the closing of Coney Island High, & leaving an entire crew of change begging gutter punks wandering aimlessly around St. Marks Place, & I finally get to see hometown crusties Furious George, playing openers for Boris the Sprinkler, & a dozen bands doing yet another Ramones tribute night. For some reason, I always miss seeing local bands, for example, I spent four years living in Tampa Bay, & never managed to see the Pink Lincolns. So it was cool to finally get to see Furious George Tabb, after reading his whiny columns in Maximumrocknroll & the New York Press for years, & after his appearance in Spike Lee’s ‘Summer Of Sam’ movie that summer. I had visions of how cool it would be to tattoo George & maybe the rest of the band, I could see big glossy photos of them onstage, maybe at CBGB’s, stage lights glistening off of fresh crazy punk rock tattoos on their extremities, blown up & hanging at a booth at a convention,... yeah! Punk rock baby,... so I flip George a card as he lugs his amp off stage, & joke about how it could make my career to have the honor of tattooing a big time rock star like him. He laughs & looks at me, & shrugs his shoulders & tells me he can’t get tattoos, when I ask why not, he tells me, “I’m Jewish!”

What?! Punk rock, getting drunk & rowdy, drug usage, lap dances, these things are well & good, but suddenly you get this overwhelming batiston of morality when it comes to TATTOOS? Go figure! So,... that’s just what I did, I set out to try to figure out where this whole ‘tattoos are so ungodly’ thing comes from, & if there is actually any sort of theological backbone to the whole premise, or just more puritanical holdovers from the days of witchburnings & inquisitions. If you’re into the body modification professions, you may want to print this out & keep it on hand as reference the next time you get into a heated debate on the subject.

“Do not cut your bodies for the dead, or put tattoo marks on yourselves.” Leviticus 19:28. This is the scripture that will appear in various tattoo magazines from time to time, & everyone seems to think that this means that tattoos are just plain forbidden. In context, many of these commands given were for a very specific period of time, & for very specific reasons, mainly because people were worshipping demons with cutting & bloodletting, blood drinking,child sacrifice, all night orgies, & other practices that were either spreading fatal diseases like the plague or were just out & out murder. “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech for you must not profane the name of your God” Leviticus 18:2. I mean, come on, they were living in a time, 4000 years ago, when someone actually had to sit down & write a law saying that child sacrifice was a BAD thing! All of these things of course had a spiritual significance, but even in practical terms, drinking blood or sex with dozens of temple prostitutes just wasn’t exactly a healthy thing to do. Necromancy was also a broadly practiced theme, & the tattooing was specifically for communing with the dead, & was a hell of a lot more than just getting a heart with Mom written in the middle. “Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead for you are a people holy to the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 14:1. Many of these regulations were certainly specific to the time & place that they were written, a prime example are all the laws concerning slaves, up to & including penalties for sleeping with another man’s slave.

It’s obvious that body art isn’t the issue here, the issue was the nation of Israel, rather literally, prostituting herself to pagan gods, & that wasn’t a good thing. In fact, nose rings were used as engagement pieces, to the extent that when God himself is speaking allegorically of her chosen people, He mentions betrothing her with this piercing,.... “I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms & a necklace on your neck, & I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears & a beautiful crown on your head.” Ezekiel 16:11-12 (also in Genesis 24:22, Genesis 24:30, Genesis 24:47, Genesis 35:4, & Exodus 32:2-3). Piercings & all manner of body arts were used in the most sacred of the rituals, marriage, which was instituted by God as an earthly analogy of what it would be like to commune with him in Heaven.

In fact, I would venture forward to say that God himself is adorned with markings not dissimilar to tattoos,... although don’t ask me who is artist is,... “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Isaac 49:22. And like Father like Son, let’s not forget the physical description given to a resurrected Jesus,... “On His robe & on his thigh he has the name written: KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:16. I can take it to a further extreme, & say that when Jesus rose from the dead, his wounds were not healed, He still bore them,... His hands, feet, side & scalp were all pierced, & were still there, as we can see when Thomas doubts the whole thing & demands to put his fingers in the piercings. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands & put my finger where the nails were, & put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.” John 20:25. Those piercings were the most significant act in all of human history, changing everything about society as we know it for millennia.

We must keep in mind the Bible’s perspective on flesh, it’s flesh that we try to separate whenever fasting is spoken of, it’s flesh that dies off & is laid back to the dust, & it’s the flesh that we are asked to crucify every day. Keep these last two passages in mind whenever some mindless right wing Pat Robertson drone is blathering on parroting some mindless garbage out of context about your body adornment or attire:

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outer appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

“Stop judging by mere appearances, & make a right judgment.” Jesus Christ, John 7:21