CHRIS: I don't think Mutsuo would ever talk about
himself that much.
He's a very unassuming kind of guy.
You'd meet him and you'd be like, ah, he's a
really nice, quiet guy.
And he's not a hustler.
He's just really dedicated to tattooing as an artist.
He'd learn how to tattoo everything.
Kind of like in the United States.
In the '90s, you just tattooed whatever came in the door.
He kind of got an American '90s tattoo education.
He's probably the first person in Japan to get that.
He's a maverick.
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): And he doesn't even know.
CHRIS: He doesn't even know.
NAMI: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MASA: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
HIROSHI: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MUTSUO: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
CHRIS: Mutsuo, he's like a walking artist.
I don't know if he has any weaknesses at this point.
Everything I see him do looks totally legit.
He started tattooing, I guess, in 2000, 2001.
Yeah, I can't believe that he's been tattooing for like
13 years now.
Yeah, time goes by so quick, but.
Mutsuo is like the foundation at Three Tides now.
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MUTSUO: Customers bring in some food.
Some sweets.
NAMI: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MUTSUO: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
NAMI: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
HIROSHI: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MUTSUO: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MUTSUO: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MASA: Hey.
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): Hello.
How are you?
MASA: Good.
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MASA: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
CHRIS: When Three Tides started, it was a very new
concept in Japan to have a Western style shop where you
could get to go in and you could get
almost any type of tattoo.
It wasn't necessarily a Japanese-style tattoo.
It could be an American traditional, or a single
needle black and gray, or Japanese, maybe like just a
dragon on your arm.
I think a lot of people that were young, whether they were
into skateboarding or rock and roll, I think a lot of them
would be intimidated to go to a traditional tattoo shop and
be like, I want to get a panther.
It would be just something that wasn't really
done at that time.
That was a niche Three Tides filled for a lot of people.
Something that they saw in an American tattoo magazine they
could get done in Japan without having to travel to
the United States or Europe or something like that.
MASA: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]
MUTSUO: [SPEAKING JAPANESE]