Tattoo artist Remy painstakingly injects tiny dots of pigment into Koki Hatanaka's bald scalp to mimic hair follicles, performing a grey-zone cosmetic procedure increasingly in the crosshairs of Japanese health authorities.
Japan bucks a global trend by viewing permanent make-up as the domain of medical professionals, and has ramped up threats of criminal prosecution against anyone else who practices it - like the 44-year-old Okinawan.
Industry insiders insist that their craft, from make-believe hair to filled-in eyebrows and lip tints, is an artistic pursuit more befitting tattooists and hairstylists.
But in a country where body art has long symbolized yakuza gangsters, these cosmetic tattooists' safety and sanitary protocols are not enough to dispel skepticism.
"It's a complete mystery to me why they keep saying this constitutes a medical practice," Remy - his professional name - told Agence France-Presse (AFP) as he used a fine needle to ink 28-year-old Hatanaka.
