Signatures of the Soul - Tattooing Today

Then of course most everyone that comes in here treats us real good. I guess they'd better, since they’re going to be on the other end of the needle.

– East Los Angeles tattooist Mike Brown

..long after the price is forgotten, you still have your tattoo.

– San Diego tattooist Doc Webb

There’s a certain percentage of the populace everywhere always that will want to be tattooed and I’m sure none of us will ever fully understand why. And that’s part of the attraction.

– San Franscisco tattooist Ed Hardy

San Diego, home base for the United States West Pacific Fleet, caters well for the sailor and his desire for tattoos. On one block there are ten tattoo parlours.

– Narrator Peter Fonda introduces San Diego

Back a few years ago really the only American type of tattooing was like you could say an eagle or an anchor, or something like that. But now American tribal tattooing has really come into its own identity, because of this art form; this punk rock art form.

– American tattooist Ed Hardy on the influence of punk rock fans on tattooing

I got my first tattoos here at this shop on Sunset Strip when Lyle [Tuttle] used to run it. These three stars on my arm mean many many things to me...

– Presenter Peter Fonda displays his arm tatoo, 15 minutes into clip two

The tattooed are very private about their decorations. They are designed to be easily hidden by clothes. In contrast to the West, the Japanese have always created a unified one piece tattoo. The total design has always been considered just as important as the elements it's made from.

– Presenter Peter Fonda talks about Japanese tattooing

Tattoo parlours carry an image of the fringe of society: located down in the seedy side of town, frequented by bikers and sailors. But these impressions aren't necessarily correct, and tattooing hasn't always had this image. It is one of mankind's oldest and most constant forms of expression.

– Presenter Peter Fonda introduces Signatures of the Soul

There are only a dozen or so tattoo artists, and it's estimated there's just slightly over a thousand tattooed people in Japanese. They're rarely seen by the general public. To the average Japanese a tattoo is an anti-social act, and is conclusive proof that its owner is yakuza.

– Presenter Peter Fonda on the rarity of tattooed people in 1980s Japan