Japanese Tattoos

Traditional irezumi is carried out by specialist (often illusive) tattooists.  It is estimated that there are about one hundred recognized practitioners of jrezurni alive today in Japan.

Full body irezumi is painful, time-consuming and expensive: a typical traditional body suit (covering the arms, back, upper legs and chest, but leaving an untattooed ‘river’ down the center of the body where an unbottoned shirt or coat could conseal the tattoo) can take up to ten years to complete, with weekly visits to the tattooist and can cost in excess of US$30-50,000.

It is estimated that approximately twenty thousand Japanese have half body tattoos, with about two hundred carrying on with a full body tattoo.

To start with here is a brief history into the History of the Japanese Tattoo.Evidence of tattooing (for spiritual and decorative purposes) in Japan extends back to over 12,000 years ago.  Archaelogists have found clay figures called dogu that show markings around the forehead, eyes, cheeks and lips and have suggested that these may indicate tattoos.In the Kofun period (300–600 AD) tattoos were used as a way of marking criminals as a punishment (similar to that used on slaves in ancient Rome), often with marks depicting their crime.

Until the Edo period (1600–1868 AD) the role of tattoos in Japanese society varied significantly. Tattooed marks were still used as a form of punishment, but it was during the latter years (post 1800) of the Edo period that Japanese decorative tattooing (or horimono) began to develop into the advanced art form it is known as today.

The most important artist in terms of the development of Japanese tattoing was Kuniyoshi who illustrated a Chinese novel called Suikoden which had been translated into Japanese.  Kuniyoshi’s illustrations showed heavily tattooed warriors with tattoos of koi, dragons, ferocious tigers, mythical beasts and religious images.

In the 1800′s skilled woodblock artists started to diversify and use their skills and tools as tattoo artists.  The technique known as tebori (‘to carve by hand’) was used whereby steel needles were secured in a row to bamboo rods to were pushed into the skin.

Scholars are unsure still as to who wore such tattoos.

At the beginning of the Meiji period the Japanese government made tattooing illegal as a way of tidying up the Japanese image, which drove tattooing underground, and soon tattoos became somewhat of a status symbol within criminal gangs.  For many years, traditional Japanese tattoos were associated with the Yakuza, Japan’s notorious mafia (even after re-legalisation in 1945).  It is estimated that about 70% of Yakuza members are tattooed.

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