Tattoo Talks: Miyavi finds peace in his bloodline through his Korean last name

Lifestyle Asia’s Tattoo Talks explores the connection and stories behind people and their tattoos. In our next episode, we join MIYAVI over a glass of The Macallan at Carlyle and Co. just before his intimate performance. The guitar maestro has long been known for his flashy style, unique finger-slapping playing technique, and bold tattoos. For those familiar with the artist, you’ll instantly recognise his ink as it takes on many forms of calligraphy-style tattoos.

MIYAVI‘s tattoos are a reflection of how he lives his life — full of purpose and created with emotion. It is impressive to hear him talk about his life, even though we thought he was going to break down each one of his tattoos, we found ourselves having to change batteries in our camera and focusing on just a single piece as there was just so much story tied to that one tattoo.

The tattoo he had gone over for us was the largest on his body. Located on his back and created by Kotaro Sato, the character “李” can be found enveloped by the Heart Sutra. Many might think that this is the character for the Japanese plum “sumono” but it is actually for his Korean last name “Lee.” Growing up half-Korean in Japan, MIYAVI was sheltered from knowing his ancestry at a young age due to the stigma surrounding his ethnicity in Japan. Coupled with the fact that MIYAVI grew up butting heads with his father, which distanced the two, there was no reason for embracing his father’s side… that is until he became a father himself.

Recognising that his father’s blood flows through his veins as well, MIYAVI eventually took a new approach in trying to understand his actions and used this journey as fuel for his artistry. While creating a family for himself, he finally understood the source of his frustration with his father and the lack of communication and expression. While respect for his father’s way of life was eventually established, MIYAVI reveals that through this exploration of his heritage, he learned not to repeat the same mistakes and to raise his children so that there is never any misunderstanding.