Japanese Tattoo Art Spotlighted at Restaurant Sake Dojo

At the heart of Los Angeles’ ‘Little Tokyo’, the largest Japanese district in the US, a new restaurant is making waves with its interior design inspired by Japanese tattoo art. This ancient art, with a history as old as the islands themselves, it both admired across the globe, and controversial in its homeland.

At Sake Dojo (also esteemed for its excellent culinary offerings), whole sections of perforated plywood plates, which let in the light, are decorated with aquatic themed motifs. The designs, much larger than your average tattoo, allow the minute details to be revealed, thus demonstrating the impressive dexterity that would be needed for them to be transferred to skin.

The design team worked hand in hand with the artist Horifuji, a San José-based Japanese tattoo specialist, choosing a rich mix of styles and themes for the other decorative elements. There are Japanese film posters of American movies with their titles translated, such as Wes Anderson’s Life Aquatic (2004), a nod to the restaurant’s aquatic tattoos, as well as vintage cameras, Japanese cookery books, and a bar with over 120 varieties of sake.