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outlining. While this may seem to be a severe break with tradition, the tattoo machine with its capacity for detailed line work, has enabled tattoos to conform more closely to the woodblock-print original. Many masters are keen to see hand tattooing survive and, by combining handtattooing and machine work and training their apprentices in both techniques, they are producing a new tattoo product that remains faithful to the images of the floating world. It is this preoccupation with tradition that has kept the images and styles of the Japanese tattoo remarkably untouched by outside influences.