The art of the tattoo in Japan is often mistaken as a sign of the Japanese mafia, or yakuza, but the painful-looking permanent tattoos share more of a historical and contemporary connection with the traditional art of Japanese woodblock printing, or ukiyo-e, than meets the eye.

To illustrate the connection, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and the Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center present the exhibition "Wood Skin Ink: The Japanese Aesthetic in Modern Tattooing."

This exhibition explores the influence of Edo period (1600-1868) ukiyo-e on present-day tattoo artists. The exhibit will show the role that ukiyo-e images play in the formation of a modern tattoo movement that is global — stretching from Japan to United States.

Created by the Hui No'eau center on Maui and sponsored by Robyn Buntin of Honolulu, "Wood Skin Ink" also highlights the skill and innovation of leading tattooists — Don Ed Hardy, Takahiro Kitamura (Horitaka), Chris Trevi–o, Yoshihito Nakano (Horiyoshi III) and Kazuaki Kitamura (Horitomo) — featured in the show.

On Friday, tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy will give a slide show presentation, "Japan Under My Skin." Hardy, who lives on O'ahu, still operates his Tattoo City shop in San Francisco but primarily devotes his time to painting, printmaking and a fashion line, Ed Hardy Vintage Tattoo Wear.

The tattoo artist is often referred to as the "Godfather" of the movement that brought Japanese-style tattooing to the attention of tattooists throughout the West, said Paul Mullowney, the exhibition's curator.

"Art enthusiasts and arbiters of culture in Japan will often scoff at the suggestion that kabuki (one of three major classical theaters of Japan) and ukiyo-e prints shared equal prominence with tattooing in the Edo period's 'floating world' of the merchant class," said Mullowney, "but the idea is now undisputed among most people."

Mullowney, a professional printmaker who established the Tokugenji Press in Japan, explained that tattoo artists, Japanese woodblock artists, carvers and printers of the Edo period used common materials and techniques.

"Even the lexicon of the woodblock printing world is shared by the tattooists. 'Horu' — the verb which means 'to carve,' describes both what carvers and tattooists do," said Mullowney, who is the core faculty member in printmaking at the Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center.

"And 'bokashi,' the word for the shading of wet pigment, which reached high levels of technique in the Edo period ukiyo-e prints, is still used by tattooists today to describe the intricate shading which gives Japanese-style tattoos their unique look."

From the Edo period, the art of woodblock printing, kabuki and tattooing flourished among the merchant class, but while ukiyo-e and kabuki elevated to a higher status after the 19th century, tattooing remained on the fringes of society, Mullowney said.

"Wood Skin Ink" explores how the intertwined arts of woodblock printing and tattooing have traveled over oceans, crossed cultures and passed along generations through the hands of different artists.

The images by the tattoo artists featured in the exhibition also show how Japanese woodblock prints have inspired them to take a tradition and transform it into something of their own.

"Wood Skin Ink" is supported in part by the Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; Laila Art Fund of the Hawai'i Community Foundation; The Banyan Tree House; and Artscapes Museum Framing.

The exhibition runs until Nov. 23. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, see www.jcch.com.