Anarchy Love Violence is a small zine that focuses on Tattoo Burst - a Japanese counterculture magazine.
Tattoo culture in Japan is still a taboo, but that’s why the culture is beautiful. Fireflies can only be seen at night because their beauty is only visible at night. They aren’t appreciated in daylight. When something becomes a fashion, it isn’t fascinating anymore. In Western culture, it might just be fashion or trendy, but in Japan, tattoos that can’t be seen are appreciated and that’s why they are beautiful. Japanese culture is about being in the shadows.
Anarchy Love Violence: Tattoo Burst Zine
Anarchy Love Violence is a small zine I produced that focuses on Tattoo Burst - a Japanese counterculture magazine. The zine is an amalgamation of the images I’ve found in these magazines that I felt like were a reflection of myself.
Burst Magazine was a publication primarily centered around tattoos and tattoo culture, however, it often overlapped with every transgressive subculture in Japan. Tattoos in Japan are directly associated with crime because of the Yakuza, especially during the time of this publication. So the entire existence of this magazine was very taboo. The magazine also showcased drug culture, a huge taboo in Japan, with weed paraphernalia for sale and also photos of heroin addicts and other members of Japan’s underbelly. The magazine would frequently cover bands like GISM, Gauze, and Hanatarash.