Shige of Yellow Blaze Tattoo in Yokohama, Japan, has emerged as one of the foremost tattooers in the world, not just of the Japanese style, but of all styles. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Shige very well, from working conventions together to just hanging out, and am proud of his success and truly feel that he is advancing the art of tattooing. We just tattooed together at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco as part of a groundbreaking demonstration of Japanese tattoo art and Shige has definitely come a long way from his humble beginnings. Starting as a broke motorcycle mechanic to a self taught tattooer, he has dealt with a lot of negativity to get where he is. Now, world renowned, booked for years, with more first place trophies than he can count, he still remains a mystery to many tattoo artists and collectors.