#japanese tattoos

so i was talkin to a tattoo artist last week and i mentioned that i loved the style of traditional japanese tattoos rn... but like, i think i totally messed up lol. i was sayin how much i loved the whole 'less is more' approach and how i thought it was super cool that they use so much empty space... and the artist just kinda gives me this weird look and tells me thats actually more of a chinese thing 🙈 im pretty embarrassing cuz i had no idea. anyone else ever get their tattoo art history mixed up? i feel like im still learnin so much about all this