Yoji Harada ‘Miami Ink’ With ‘Bouncing Souls’ Before Death [Video]

Yoji Harada the “Miami Ink” star from Japan did not from the start want to be a tattoo artist.

Harada was born on Aug. 6, 1972.

Born in Tokyo, Japan on Aug. 6, 1972, in 1998 the tattoo artist moved to Chicago in the ’90s. While there he the woman who he would eventually marry, Bonnie Minkus.

Harada’s first dream was to become a musician. Moving to New York City, he joined the punk rock band “Big Deal.” He later moved to Miami to study under Ami James learning his the craft of tattooing.

Harada never lost his passion for music, and would often perform as a guest musician.  According to Harada’s MySpace, his favorite genre of music was punk rock and classic rock.

Music was not Harada’s only creative outlet. In 2001, he has his only major movie appearance in the Japanese movie “Suicide Club.”  The controversial film is about a major outbreak of suicides across Japan, and a detective who tried to find out the cause. Harada played a comedian in the movie who has a friend kill himself while he was in the middle of a gig on stage.

Written by Barbara Sobel

Sources:

Heavy.com: Yoji Harada Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Imbd: Yoji Harada
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of YouTube – Creative Commons License