Japanese tattoo was a secret art form in the early 1970s. The masters for the traditional techniques worked in small studios and tattoing was something for a distinguished few.

In 1970s, when renowned street art and hip hop photographer Martha Cooper came to Tokyo, she decided to focus on this secret art and began documenting the life and work of traditional Japanese tattooist Horibun I. Tokyo Tattoo 1970 is a book about the traditional art of tattooing and a portrait of a master artist.