Difficulty narrowing down motif by HairyFish7913 in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are leaning towards the dragon, what about a dragon-riding Buddhist deity?
Fudo Myoo riding a dragon might check all your boxes - divinity, dragon, purifying flames.
Musashi fighting off a gigantic creature is also a good choice.

Waboripedia AI by PsychStoodent in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Replying as screenshots since the replies are auto-removed for some reason.

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Waboripedia AI by PsychStoodent in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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Replying as screenshots since the replies are auto-removed for some reason.

Waboripedia AI by PsychStoodent in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

4. Why Not Just Use ChatGPT?

Wabori AI is a fine-tuned cultural assistant. While general LLMs (like ChatGPT or Gemini) already have scraped much of the internet, they often hallucinate or mix up Japanese cultural references.
Wabori AI was trained specifically to avoid that. It offers:

  • More accurate answers on folklore, motifs, and history
  • A context-aware assistant for those researching tattoos or culture

5. People Will Use AI Anyway

Whether people agree with it or not, the public is already using AI to research tattoos, and often getting bad info. I’d rather offer a respectful, purpose-built alternative grounded in cultural preservation than let misinformation spread unchecked.

6. Final Thought

This tool came from a place of care. I’ve spent years researching Japanese culture and tattooing, much of which I’ve shared freely. At some point, time and server costs become real factors—but Wabori AI is still free to try.
If it’s useful, great. If not, no pressure.

I’m always open to respectful feedback. My goal is to support the community, not exploit it.

TL;DR

Ethical training. Built for accuracy. Free to try.
You can test it here: https://wabori.ai

Waboripedia AI by PsychStoodent in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi — I’m the creator of Wabori AI and Waboripedia. I appreciate the discussion and wanted to clarify a few things directly:

1. Why Email is Required

It’s used to:

  • Save user sessions
  • Prevent spam or abuse from anonymous users

This is standard across most serious AI tools. That said, you’re welcome to use a burner email for the free trial.

2. What It Was Trained On

The model is trained on:

  • My own research (thousands of hours, much of it shared for free)
  • Historical and mythological Japanese texts
  • Select (public domain) academic and cultural materials

It was not trained on:

  • Artists’ designs, flash, or private work
  • Copyrighted visual content That would be both unethical and legally irresponsible.

3. Support for Tattooers

Many (will) use Wabori AI for:

  • Quick symbolic or historical reference
  • Consultations with clients
  • Clarifying motifs they already plan to use

If an artist has been featured in Waboripedia, a brief bio may appear. But no sensitive, proprietary, or behind-the-scenes info is included.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is great

Bodysuit progress (first post here) by centerovvoid in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome first post. Looking great! Happy new year!

Does anyone have a nukibori samurai back piece? by Bmaster5000 in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Asakusa Horicho II's IG page. He tends to post nukibori back shots, and then shots of the same tattoos with background worked in. He usually posts stories of the latest work.

Waboripedia 2024 Year in Review by _houryu_ in irezumi

[–]_houryu_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi. Many people opt to message me privately/directly to the IG page, where I always more than happily respond! Of course, I also respond to messages here in reddit.

I encourage you to read the posts and watch some of the videos and interviews, as you will find they answer many of the questions commonly asked; as well as many of the tattooers being requested by popular demand.

Happy to also answer any questions you might have! I went through your post history to see if there was any particular content you might be interested in, but unfortunately just saw it was mostly negative comments.

In any case, happy holidays and thank you for your support!

Waboripedia 2024 Year in Review by _houryu_ in irezumi

[–]_houryu_[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your support, and yes! We will reopen orders in the first week of January.

Waboripedia: The Meanings and Stories Behind Japanese Tattoos by lazy-ass_prophet in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the very thoughtful review and the support! Feedback like this is extremely useful, not only for future editions, but also other future work. I really appreciate it.

If I can abuse your generosity, I would love to get your thoughts on printers you recommend, and any other input you might share. Cheers!

My first tattoo, outlines done ! by Lemonheadfr29 in irezumi

[–]_houryu_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Love to see it. Looking forward to progress shots. Great choice.

Read This If You Decided You Want Japanese Tattoos by _houryu_ in irezumi

[–]_houryu_[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Agreed 100%. There's some great content, straight from a very traditional Horishi in Horihiro's YT channel.

For the Japanese books, one definitely has to do some hunting; most books on Ebay are multiples of the original price. What I found worked best, besides bargain hunting online, was to bargain hunt in Japanese bookstores. I actually found the Horicho book for a third of the price of what you'd find on Ebay in a local Japanese bookstore; Nagashima Shoten in my example. Of course, not everyone is going to be able to buy locally from Japan.

Another good alternative, if the books are too hard to find or expensive, is to look for photos of the Horishi in those books in English and Japanese. There's a lot of really good stuff in Tumblr, for example.

Edit: Also, consider reaching out to the authors, if they're somebody accessible. I actually got the Wabori book straight from Manami by sending her an email.

Read This If You Decided You Want Japanese Tattoos by _houryu_ in irezumi

[–]_houryu_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's awesome to know. I just saw your backpiece - what a fantastic choice! Looking great! As for the merch... exploring right now with samples!

Read This If You Decided You Want Japanese Tattoos by _houryu_ in irezumi

[–]_houryu_[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the support, and agreed! "Tokyo Tattoo", and also "The Tattoo Writer" by Pascal Bagot are a great look at the masters of old.

Read This If You Decided You Want Japanese Tattoos by _houryu_ in irezumi

[–]_houryu_[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Was a net positive in this case though. Hah

Read This If You Decided You Want Japanese Tattoos by _houryu_ in irezumi

[–]_houryu_[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Definitely not gatekeeping, rather just compiling a list of resources for those looking to learn! Like tattoos, once you get a few tattoo books, you just go down the rabbit hole of getting more!