Noko Nishigaki is not your ordinary 10-year-old girl. She has been tattooing since she turned eight, following in her dad’s footsteps, who is a famous Japanese tattoo artist called Gakkin.
Currently based in Amsterdam, the young prodigy worked for three years on her drawing techniques and now she tattoos incredible images which often combines adorable subjects, such as animals with flowers and hearts, with bold lines and color-blocking. Her first official art piece is a portrait of their pet, a Java sparrow called Komajiro. She drew it on her father’s skin, which Gakkin considers as his favorite piece out of the numerous designs created by his daughter.
“Her drawings are so lovely. I really love them,” Gakkin told Dazed Digital. “[It was a] big surprise for me that she can do very well at such a young age. Especially [since] drawing and tattooing are totally different things. I’m very proud of her.”
Despite still being an apprentice, Noko is considered as one of the youngest working tattoo artists in the world. She’s on her 24th customer and she’s not slowing down. Her parents are very supportive on her passion and her mother, Megumi, is even managing Noko’s Instagram account, which now has over 34K followers.
“We think [that] to find [a] dream – what she wants to be, what she wants to do in the future, is not easy at a young age,” Gakkin said. “So she might change her mind in the future – but [for] now, she is interested in tattooing and enjoying it so much. We want to do our best to support her. It’s normal as parents, we think. She is only 10 years old – we want her to see many things. We want to give her any chance. We are looking forward to seeing how she grows.”
