Qualification and training?

depends on the state / country
In Hawaii – you need to get license
they offer exam 2 times a year – its really simple test – but study

to open shop you need business license
OSHA compliance
and some skills

i suggest first getting apprenticeship – then learning the trade – then open a shop – haha

Online tattoo schools that promise to make you a tattoo artist are a joke!

Google: Hawaii Department of Sanitation – Tattoo
You can also call Dept. of Sanitation
No – hawaii doe snot do online exam
they offer only once a year (maybe twice – i forget)

You have to pay $75.00
no study guide that I could find –
once you pay and register – then they will hook you up with more info..
I think exam is in June? and Jan? I forget though…
call them

their is no piece of paper that says you are a tattooist, let alone a tattoo artist

no – you are right.. but in Hawaii we require you to have a piece of Paper to tattoo legally. haha

You need that piece of paper in many states now,and ironically enough,very few,if any,require an ability to tattoo to get it.