Orphan to Ink Master: Tattoo Artist Jawn Suzuki's Wild Journey to Becoming His Radically Authentic Self

At 32 years old, Jawn Suzuki has lived quite a life. Being adopted at three months old in Okayama, Japan, Jawn later learned that his parents were initially offered a different child, but the mother ended up taking her child back. Now a Hawaii native during his adolescent years, Jawn constantly found it difficult to connect with his peers and his Asian identity—he described himself as a scrawny, closeted kid who lived on top of the hill (he was Rapunzel) and persistently defied his traditional Japanese parents on being their version of the ideal Japanese son. Jawn was 18 when he found his love for tattoos. He grew up as a painter and found that, as an artist, a canvas was difficult to walk away from. On the skin, he knew when to stop. The year 25 was quite a dark year for Jawn. That was the year when his ex-boyfriend, out of frustration, came out for him behind his back. It was also the year when Jawn finally revealed to his parents that he had been tattooing professionally for years. The news crushed his parents, and Jawn and his parents did not speak for a year. This is one of my most stimulating conversations on the show. Jawn and I talk about his relationship with his parents, his disconnect with his Asian identity, his coming out story, being a gay Asian tattoo artist in a white, misogynistic, and homophobic industry, and his road to sobriety. But with trauma comes healing. I'm excited for you to hear about the fruitful life that Jawn has tirelessly worked toward today. Cheers 乾杯 🍵, Melissa 以欣 Follow Jawn: https://www.instagram.com/jawnton/ Follow hAAPI hour on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ for episode highlights and guest reveals: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/haapihourpod/⁠ Have someone you want featured? Email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ or send a message on Instagram @haapihourpod. Music from ⁠Epidemic Sound⁠. Like the music? Find the hAAPI hour playlist ⁠here⁠. And if you sign up for Epidemic Sound through the playlist link, you'll get 1 month for free: ⁠https://share.epidemicsound.com/co24zo/?playlist=21xf90t142ycjiyt5rnypqgrcc5j36m7⁠ Hosted/created by ⁠Melissa Cho