Japanese
Tattooing from the Past to the Present
by
Mieko Yamada
The
Jomon to the pre-Edo period
The
origin of tattooing in Japan has been traced back to the Jomon
period (10,000 B. C. ~ 300 B. C.). Jomon
means "pattern of rope." Many ceramic pots with markings of rope
were found in that period. Clay figurines produced in this period are called dogu.
Scholars consider that some dogus
show tattoo-like markings on their faces and bodies. The oldestdogus
whose faces have a depiction of tattooing were found near Osaka in 1977. They
are estimated to date from dated the fifth century B. C. (Richie,1980).
During the Yayoi
period (300 B. C. ~ 300
A. D.) clay figurines with tattoo markings were also found (Yoshioka, 1996).
The
custom of tattooing in Japan is described in the third century Chinese
history, Gishiwajinden,
which is the oldest record mentioning Japan. Japan is called Wa,
and the custom of
tattooing
is mentioned in this text:
The
men of Wa tattoo their faces and paint their bodies with designs. They are
fond of diving for fish and shells. Long ago they decorated their bodies in
order to protect themselves from large fish. Later these designs became
ornamental. Body painting differs among the various tribes. The position and
size of the designs vary according to the rank of individuals.... They smear
their bodies with pink and scarlet just as we Chinese use powder (Tsunoda and
Goodrich, cited by Dalby, 1993: 22).
The
Kofun period (300 A. D.- 600 A. D.)
came after the Yayoi era. The word kofun
means an old tomb. In this period, hilly tombs in many places were made, and
the clay figures in the shape of dolls, horses and huts were also found in the
tombs. The clay figures are called haniwa,
which is the counterpart of dogu in
the Jomon era. Markings on some haniwa
are regarded as patterns of tattoos.
In
622 A. D., an envoy of China recorded the custom of Japanese tattooing in Zuisho.
There is a section, "Ryukyu kokuden" in it, and the practice of
tattooing among the Ryukyu women is described. The Ryukyu islands are today in
Okinawa prefecture, the southern most part of Japan. When it was an
independent country it was threatened by the rule of China and Japan.
This
record, Zuisho, shows Okinawa and Taiwan already established trading in those
days. However, it is not confirmed whether
Ryukyu in Zuisho itself refers to Okinawa or Taiwan. Many scholars
state that the design of Okinawan tattoo is similar to the tattooing style in
a part of aboriginal Taiwanese (Yoshioka, 1996). The Okinawan tattoo may be
connected not only with the custom of tattooing in Taiwan but also with South
East Asia.
It
was not until the eighth century that the first Japanese printed books
appeared. The Kojiki (712 A. D.)
mentions that there are two types of tattoos. One is a mark of distinction on
a man of very high status, and the other is to identify criminals (McCallum,
1988). Later, the Chronicles of Japan, the Nihonshoki,
was complied in 720 A.D. According to the Nihonshoki, a person named Azumi no
Murajihamako was tattooed as punishment for treason. This was an example of
the punitive application of tattooing. McCallum
(1988) summarizes the practice of Japanese tattooing during the Kofun period.
In the early Kofun period, the tattoo persisted as a socially
Between
600 A.D. and 1600, there is little literature regarding the custom of
tattooing. Tamabayashi (1956) and Van Gulik (1982) state the Joei Code issued
in 1232 mentions penal tattooing. According to some scholars (Richie; 1980,
Van Gulik; 1982), tattooing was used to mark and distinguish the social
outcasts. Consequently, the people who were tattooed as punishment formed
minority groups, called eta (the
euphemism of village people) and hinin
(non-humans).
Iizawa
(1973) and Tamabayashi (1956) report that the custom of tattooing is also
found among samurai warriors in the
sixteenth century. In certain areas, the samurai had tattoos for
identification.
Soldiers
wore armor and had other identifying belongings, of course, but scavengers
often stripped dead bodies on a battlefield , which made identification
difficult. Tattoos offered certain identification
(Iizawa,
1973; 252).
During
the Tensho era (1573~1591), the samurai
soldiers of the Satsuma clan (now Kagoshima region) were tattooed with
Japanese characters on the upper arms. However, this information is not
clearly confirmed.
Tattooing
in the Ainu and the Ryukyu
Ryukyu
tattooing was first mentioned in 1461. However, some scholars consider the
description of tattooing in the Zuisho
of 622 to be the oldest record of the Ryukyu tattoo even though this
information is still speculative (Yoshioka, 1996).
The oldest reports of Ainu tattoos were recorded by an Italian
researcher, Girolamo de Angelis in 1612 and 1621 (Yoshioka, 1996). The Ainus
were tattooed on the face as well as the back of the hands and arms. The
tattoos were done around the lips, cheeks, the forehead or the eyebrows.
There are several motivations for Ainu tattooing: cosmetic purposes,
tribal purposes, sexual maturity, religious purposes and adornment. Although
only the Ainu women's tattoos were mentioned in most cases, it was also
reported that the men were tattooed in some regions (Takayama; 1969, Yoshioka;
1996).
Ainu
girls were first tattooed when they were 10 to 13 years old. Some women
started when they were 5 or 6 years old. Their tattoos were completed by the
time they reached marriageable age. The
patterns of the Ainu tattoos are related to their tribal clothing.
Tosabayashi
(1948) presents the study on the patterns of the Ainu tattoo in detail. He
mentions that the patterns of the tattoos are similar to the chastity belt
that the Ainu women wore, and that Ainu tattoos symbolize virtue or purity.
The Ainu tattoo is also used for protection from the atrocities committed by
other tribes.
The
Ryukyu tattoos, on the other hand, were done on only the back of the hands,
including the fingers, the wrists and the knuckles. There are no examples of
facial tattoo (Glacken, 1955). Tattooing is not practiced in every
Ryukyu island. In some parts, both men and women got tattooed, but in others,
only women had tattoos. In other parts of Ryukyu, no one was tattooed. The age
at which tattooing began was different, depending on the areas of the Ryukyu
islands or generation (Yoshioka, 1996). The
Ryukyu tattooing symbolized religious beliefs, sexual maturity, indication of
marriage, body adornment, distinction of sex, and tribal customs. Glacken
(1955) reports that the purpose of the Ryukyu women's tattooing was to prevent
being carried off to brothels in Japan. Kidnappings were frequent occurrences
in the Ryukyu history and the Ryukyu people knew that the Japanese disliked
tattooed women (Haring, 1969).
There
are examples of therapeutic tattooing among the Ainu and the Ryukyu. It was
believed that tattoos would heal the affected parts (Yoshioka, 1996). This is
different from the medical tattoos, but more likely to be magical. The Edo
period (1600 -1867)
Socio-cultural
Background
Tokugawa
Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo period, unified the country and set
political power in Edo (the present Tokyo). He set the rigid social system and
divided it into four classes, shi (samurai
warriors), no (peasants), ko
(artisans) and sho (merchants).
These ranks were based on Confucianism. Samurai
warriors were the highest rank. Peasants and artisans were a higher status
than merchants, because they contributed to the country as producers. In those
days, taxes were paid with the staple food of rice. Therefore, the peasants
were seen as second class citizens. Ieyasu
continued to issue strict regulations, stressing religious thoughts. In 1614,
he banned Christianity. Ieyasu's proclamation against Christians clearly
states that Japan is the country of the gods. Interestingly, Ieyasu also
quotes the Confucian doctrine. Kung-fu-tze
also said: "Body, hair and skin we have received from our father and
mother; not to injure them is the beginning of filial piety. To preserve one's
body is to revere god"
(Ballu,
1945: 131). Filial piety is one of the important elements in the Confucian
philosophical thoughts, and consists of filial duties toward parents:
obedience, responsibility, and loyalty. It is the foundation of feudal ethics.
Furthermore, Neo-Confucian philosopher, Chu Hsi's system was later guided by
Hayashi Razan, one of the famous scholars of the early Edo era. Chu Hsi
emphasizes human relationships in the Five Human Relations: between father and
son, ruler and subject, husband and wife, older and younger brother, and
friends (Sansom, 1963).
The
Buke Shohatto (Rules for the
Military Houses) was announced in 1615, and was the fundamental code of the samurai.
It consists of thirteen clauses, and strictly mentions the way of the samurai
in daily life from education to marriage, including a dress code. The tenth
clause in the Buke Shohatto states:
"All costumes and ornaments are to be appropriate to the wearer's rank,
and not extravagant in colour or pattern (Sansom, 1963:
8). The restrictions about costumes in the Edo period were very strict.
Ieyasu
issued
the orders regarding clothing repeatedly during his regime. As for commoners,
the dress code was also established in detail (Dalby; 1983 and 1993, Minnich;
1963, Sansom; 1963, Tanida and Koike; 1989).
Following
the development of the samurai
culture in the city of Edo, the population of common people also grew in both
rural and urban areas. Merchants, the lowest class, gradually gained power by
the eighteenth century and this led to the growth of the economy. The rich
merchants were often employed by government officials and became richer than
the samurai. Thanks to the
economic prosperity, the standard of living among townspeople was improving.
They enjoyed a peak of material wealth and a flourishing of the arts.
Considered
in retrospect, the most attractive feature of this era is the gaiety of colour
and pattern in clothing and decoration which reflected the mood of the times.
It is an especially interesting aspect of the social history of Japan that the
rise of a prosperous class of shopkeepers and craftsmen was accompanied by a
lively creative phase in the arts (Sansom, 1963: 153).
This
is called the Genroku era
(1688-1704), in other words, ukiyo,
or
"floating
world." The word ukiyo stems
from the Buddhist expression, and originally means "the dark, shifting
world of existence, or transience of life." As society changed through
the centuries, the meaning became "floating world." The novelist
Ryoi initially used this term in his work, Ukiyo
Monogatari, "Tales of
the Floating World" (Williams, 1983). He describes the life in the early
Edo era, that is, the ukiyo world.
The
wealthy townspeople surrounding him were not worried about future salvation
but rather enjoyed their materialistic, temporal existences and those
pleasures appealing directly to the senses. They lived for the moment :
"the fleeting moment" (Williams, 1983: 1).
Many prominent art works were produced, and chonin
bunka, culture of the townspeople, was fully developed in this period.
Legal
prostitution
Human
passion and its physical expression were not controlled by an abstract moral
code, whether of chivalry or sin, but by aesthetics, by decorum for its own
sake. Love was a kind of art for art's sake, an exquisite piece of theater
(Ian Buruma, "The Art of Prostitution", in Behind
the Mask, 1984:78). Geisha
literally means a person engaging in art or entertainment. They are
professional artists. The geisha
are trained to play musical instruments, sing, and dance before making their
debut as geisha. They are not
prostitutes, but well-educated entertainers. Although the geisha
were prohibited from engaging in prostitution, the prohibition was not always
observed.
The term geisha was first
used in the Edo period. After the first
geisha,
Kasen of Ogiya, made her debut in 1762 (Akiyama; 1937, Fujimoto; 1915), the
number of geisha increased rapidly. The clients were mostly samurai,
but they were gradually replaced by townspeople (Nishiyama, 1997).
Yoshiwara
was one of the famous pleasure districts, and the favorite site for the Edo
culture such as ukiyo-e, kabuki
plays, poetry and literature. During
the Edo period, prostitution was under the supervision of the Tokugawa
government. It was legal, but a license was required. The yujos
were women who engaged in sexual
activity with customers while the geisha
did not. Legal prostitution, in fact, continued until 1957 (Dalby,
1983).
Van
Gulik (1982) points out that Japan's marriage system and the
subservient
position of women in those days led to the flourishing of
pleasure
districts. Marriage was a family matter, and arranged between families in
order to maintain their family name, social position, mutual interests and
obligations. Romantic love, personal preference, and unconstrained social
contacts between men and women were therefore usually sought in the
entertainment quarters
(Van
Gulik, 1982: 21).
The
life-style or status of women was based on Neo-Confucian ethics. Sansom (1963)
describes this: The worst treatment of all was that to which a woman had to
submit. During her life she had to devote herself to what were called the
"three obediences" (sanju):
to her parents when a child, to her husband when married, and to her children
when she grew old. Too much learning was thought to spoil a girl's character,
but in the middle and upper classes some education was approved, in
literature, music, and handwriting (p.89). In those days, Japanese men had sex
with their wives for procreation, and with the yujos
for recreation (Dalby, 1983).
Kishobori
- the vow tattoo
The
term, irebokuro means tattoo, and
was used in the Edo period. Ire or ireru,
means to insert, and bokuro or hokuro
is a beauty spot. In the early Edo period, tattoo was like a dot, not
pictorial yet. Irebokuro
originated among the yujos, or
legal prostitutes. The custom of irebokuro
probably parallels the establishment of legal prostitution (Tamabayashi,
1956). According to Tamabayashi
(1956), the major group of people who accepted irebokuro
was the yujos, and the second was
the geishas. Tattooing was rare
among ordinary girls. On the other hand, in the case of the male population,
the majority was the yujo or the
geisha's clients or womanizers. Tattooed priests and youngsters were
sometimes seen.
Tamabayashi
(1956) describes one of the old patterns of irebokuro:
a man and a woman hold their hands together, and get a mole-like
tattoo
on each hand where the tip of the thumb reached. Irebokuro
was a reminder for lovers, and showed a vow of eternal love. It is said that
some yujos wore tattoos of their
lover's name and the Japanese character for life (inochi).
It symbolized the strength of their pledge of love. Tamabayashi also mentions irebokuro
in homosexuality between priests and young boys. These tattoos were also
called kishobori, the vow tattoo.
The yujos were likely to
choose to be tattooed on the arm, especially the inside of the arm and near
the armpit, not the forearm (Tamabayashi, 1956). Their tattoos probably meant
secret affairs, forbidden love or personal desires. The purpose of the yujo's
tattoos was one of serious promise, or nuptial proof, or eternal love, and the
pledge of the heart and soul towards sincere love (Tamabayashi, 1956:24).
For others, the irebokuro
was perhaps just a tool to please and keep their customers, and thus to
succeed as a highest ranked courtesan.
The
geishas and the yujos
made up strange customs to keep their clients. Several authors (Fujimoto;
1915, Tamabayashi; 1956, Seigle; 1993, Van Gulik; 1982) cite examples of the
geisha's behavior.
1.
A woman gave a written pledge to her lover.
2. She tattooed the lover's name in her arm.
3. She cut her hair.
4. She cut her little finger.
5. She tore off the nail of one of her fingers.
6. She stabbed her elbow or thigh (Fujimoto, 1915: 129).
In
the literature of the Edo period, the practice of the pledge letter,
tattooing, finger-cutting, hair-cutting, nail-tearing are often described
(Seigle; 1993, Tamabayashi; 1956, Van Gulik; 1982). The purpose of the pledge
letter was to get a few drops of blood from both the man and the woman
(Seigle, 1993). Tattooing was
similar to the pledge letter. Many yujos
and geishas tattooed themselves to
please their customers.
However,
tattooing was considered inelegant and indiscreet among high-ranking geisha,
and they tended to avoid it (Seigle, 1993). Some customers insisted on it and
the geisha were forced to submit.
At the same time, they had to know how to erase tattoos. The courtesans
cauterized tattoos with moxa (dried herb) and fire (Seigle; 1993, Tamabayashi;
1956,Van Gulik; 1982). The tattoo could be the cause of trouble if the
courtesans had several different customers. There are records of the yujos
and the geishas repeatedly having
to tattoo over or remove old tattoos whenever their customers changed.
Finger and hair-cutting, and nail-tearing were more serious tokens than
tattooing one's name because they were obviously visible. The extreme form of
love was shinju, double suicide.
Many lovers committed double suicides, and this phenomenon peaked from the
Genroku era (1688-1703) to 1720's (Seigle, 1993). By the late Tokugawa era, kishobori
was no longer popular.
Penal
Tattooing
The
Tokugawa government had financial problems. Yoshimune became the eighth shogun
in 1716, and began to reform the policy. One of the biggest changes was
frugality. He himself reduced his expenditures, and ordered all other
officials to cut the cost of departments. The townspeople were also forced to
lower their standard of living. They were not allowed to wear showy and
luxurious garments.
The
most crucial shift was the practice of tattooing as a form of punishment in
1720 (Nakano; 199u, Tamabayashi; 1956, Van Gulik; 1982), which replaced the
amputation of nose and ears. Tattooing as punishment did not pertain to the samurai
class (Van Gulik, 1982). According to Yoshimune's code, robbers as well as
murderers were sentenced to the death. Crimes such as extortion, swindling and
fraud were punished by tattooing. The criminals were tattooed with a black
ring around an arm for each offense, or with a Japanese character on the
forehead.
The
tattoo became a mark of punishment, used by the authorities to ostracize the
outlaws from society. While the purpose of this penalty was to identify
criminals and repeat offenders, tattooing as punishment became a vicious
circle. The tattooed criminals were ostracized by society throughout their
whole lives. Some of them abandoned all hope, and sank to a level of despair
and a cycle of crimes. Consequently, the penal system formed a solitary
minority group, called eta class,
the social outcasts. For this
reason, ordinary people became afraid of tattooed people. The people with the
penal tattoos often used the records incised on the skin for illicit purposes.
They hardly rebuilt their trust in society. Some of them abandoned themselves
to despair and repeated crimes. This phenomenon made
other
people feel frightened and they came to see any tattooed person as a criminal
or evil. Therefore, showing tattoos was perceived as a threat to society.
Eventually,
the custom of penal tattooing was abolished in 1870 after being practiced for
150 years.
The
Origin of Pictorial Tattooing
Pictorial
tattoos first appeared after the Horeki era (1751-1764) (Iizawa; 1973, Nakano;
199u, Tamabayashi; 1956, Van Gulik; 1982, Yoshioka;1996). The first stage of
the pictorial tattoos was relatively small, and the designs were family crests
or evil images such as a severed human head. Even though people began to have
a couple of tattoos on their body, each piece was scattered at random, not
unified.
The
development of the art ofukiyo-e
changed the style of Japanese tattoo. The ukiyo-e
are pictures of "the floating world," mainly depicting the
landscape, people's daily life including entertainment such as kabuki-plays
or the pleasure quarters. The images were first illustrated in color prints.
In the 1650's woodblock printing began to translate the ukiyo-e
into widely available books (Smith, 1988).
Forrer (1988) and Hillier (1981) point out the difference between
Western drawings and Japanese counterparts. While Western drawings were used
in a wide range of materials, Japanese drawings were invariably executed in
brush and ink. The limited materials in Japan led to the development of sumie
or suibokuga, monochrome ink
paintings, and influenced the revival of tattooing. Later, colors were
imported from foreign countries.
Japanese
tattooing was inspired by traditional arts. The brush would be altered to a
bundle of tattooing needles. Tattooing became the popular art among the lower
class. The Chinese legendary
story, the Suikoden, the
"Water Margin", affected the tattoo designs. The Suikoden
described the adventures of legendary heroes. It was first translated from
Chinese to Japanese by Okajima Kanzan in 1757. Many artists described the Suikoden
in different versions. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, the ukiyo-e
artist, illustrated the Suikoden in
1827 and it gained popularity among townspeople. His work is still used as the
basis of tattoo designs today. Kuniyoshi's warrior-prints inspired the
development of the full body tattoo.
The
heroes' bravery and spirit fascinated many people in those days. The
characters of the heroes in the Suikoden
are full of chivalry. They were not malicious. They robbed to save the weak
from evil. Therefore, many Edo citizens' spirit of iki
perhaps shared the Suikoden
heroes. The commoners admired those heroes. The most popular figure in the Suikoden
was Kyumonryu Shishin, who has tattoos of nine dragons. In competition with
each other. Many townspeople had dragon tattoos like the Shishin's. Besides,
the image of a dragon was considered to summon water, and was popular among
firemen (Tamabayashi, 1956).
There
were many fires in Edo city through the Tokugawa
period
(Nishiyama, 1997), and the system of firemen was well developed. That is why
the design of the dragon is often seen. There is no doubt that Kuniyoshi's
illustrations of the Suikoden had
an impact on tattoo designs. Tattooing had a great vogue among the lower
orders in Japan during the early nineteenth century, and Kuniyoshi's
warrior-prints were extensively used as designs for this minor art (Robinson,
1961: 21).
There
are two reasons why the Japanese full body tattoo was developed: the existence
of sumie or, monochromatic ink
paintings, and the establishment of clothing fashion. Before the appearance of
ukiyo-e paintings, the
technique of ink painting was brought to Japan from China. In the early period
of pictorial tattoos, only outlines of designs were tattooed. It is called sujibori,
outlining. A few colors were used for tattooing: black ink, vermilion and
brown (Iizawa, 1973). Tattooing then applied bokashibori,
shading, proceeding from the ink painting techniques. The characteristics of
this style included the use of gradation and the strength that black ink and a
paint brush make. The use of various colors made the designs more colorful and
established the pictorial tattooing style.
The
idea of the full body tattoo comes from samurai
warriors' costumes called jimbaori,
a sleeveless campaign coat (Iizawa, 1973). It looked like a vest and was easy
to slip on over armor (Minnich, 1963: 32). The samurai
had their favorite patterns on the back of the jimbaori.
They tended to like heroic designs and perhaps wanted to show their courage
and pride. Some designs represented a guardian deity or a
dragon.
The
first style of tattoo was done only on the back (Iizawa, 1973). Gradually, the
tattoo designs extended to the shoulders, arms, and thighs, and the tattooed
pictures finally came to appear on the whole body. Tamabayashi (1956)
illustrates typical shapes, patterns and designs of the full body tattoos in
detail. Van Gulik (1982) refers to one of the tattoo patterns as munawari.
Tattooing over the entire front of the upper part of the torso with the
exception of a vertical strip running from the chest to the abdomen, gave the
effect of an unbuttoned vest (p.101).
The
term, iki, meaning stylishness,
smartness or chic, symbolizes the
nature
of the Edo culture and the spirit of common people. The sense of iki
was raised from resistance towards social restrictions and pressure in
those days. Common people were forced to wear only plain clothes. There was
rivalry with the superior class. Tattooing was born out of a sense of
competition. The commoners began to show off iki
to each other, and competing iki
was called date or date
shin (a sense of stylishness). The word, iki
in English would be "the coolest" things.
Having the full body tattoos was iki,
and achieved the peak of popularity. Especially, during the Bunka
Bunsei period (1804-1830), the number of tattooed individuals was rapidly
growing, and professional tattooists began to appear.
The
Tokugawa government prohibited tattooing in order to control the people's life
and customs. However, it had no effect on the commoners' attitudes. Some
authors explain that merchants were not allowed to wear gorgeous kimonos
because of the rigid social system. So they turned to tattooing instead.
Tamabayashi (1956), however, argues that the wealthy merchants did not wear
tattoos. The majority of tattooed
people were townspeople, especially scaffold
constructors,
rickshaw men, and gamblers. Amongst merchants, who were also a part of the
townspeople, the practice of tattooing was rarely seen. The wealthy merchants
did not wear tattoos. Even though some merchants with small business such as
fish sellers got tattooed, it was exceptional (Tamabayashi, 1956: 184,
translated by the author).
Iizawa
(1973) states "samurai and
upper-class merchants did not have tattoos, but most artisans (labor workers)
did get tattooed" (p.167). The samurai
or the merchants were more likely to hide their tattoos, because of their
social status or position. This probably resulted from the prevalence of
Confucianism among the samurai and
the merchants.
The
Meiji Era (1868-1912) to the Present
The
Meiji Restoration (1868) marked the beginning of modernization in Japan. The
feudal system was abolished, and Japan absorbed Western culture to cultivate
new attitudes and thoughts. The first principles, the Five Articles Oath, had
been already enunciated in April, 1868. Morton (1994) states: "Article 4.
Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the
just laws of Nature" (p.150). He describes "evil customs of the
past" as including the Tokugawa shogunate and all its works and that the
"just law of Nature" is a universal phrase.
This
concept was familiar in the West but was also known to the East in fundamental
Confucian and Taoist thought (Morton, 1994: 150). Adoption of the new western
clothing drastically changed Japan's daily landscape. Frock coats and bowler
hats for men, corseted waists and bustles for women became fashionable - they
proclaimed their wearers a new breed of Japanese, persons fully the equal of
Europeans and Americans (Dalby, 1993: 9-10).
Japan's
goal was to become a member of the leading nations as a
civilized
and sophisticated country. The government regarded tattooing as a sign of
barbarism, and in 1872, prohibited all tattooing, including the tribal
tattooing by the Ainu and the Ryukyu.
The
influence of the ban on tattooing spread to literature. Tanizaki
Junichiro,
one of the famous novelists in modern period, published a book titled Shisei
(Tattooer), in 1910. It is the
story of a young tattoo master and a beautiful girl. Tanizaki's work was
originally conceived in a contemporary setting, but later placed in the
Edo
period (McCallum, 1988: 134).There was perhaps social pressure in those days.
Ironically,
the prohibition of tattooing applied only to the Japanese, not to foreign
people. Many visitors from overseas were impressed by Japanese tattoo designs.
Sailors, from the highest to the lowest ranks, got tattooed when they arrived
in Japanese ports. Burchett
(1958) tells about meeting one Japanese tattoo master, Hori Chyo in the Meiji
era. According to Burchett (1958), Hori Chyo had tattooed many British
aristocrats, including the Duke of Clarence, the Duke of York (later, King
George V), and the Czarevitch of Russia (later, Czar Nicholas II). As a
result, Japanese tattoos were exported to oversea countries, and gained a
reputation outside of Japan. Nakano (199?) cites newspaper articles regarding
popularity of Japanese tattoos in the West.
In
1948, the prohibition of tattooing was lifted. However,
Because
of its historical background, the practice of tattooing retains a negative and
dark image in Japan today. Some tattooists do not have signs for their studios
even though tattooing is now legal.
Nakano
(1988) reveals how tattooing is viewed in Japanese society. A sumo wrestler,
while wrestling, covered his
tattoos on his left arm, and a professional boxer, Mike Tyson, hid his tattoo
to appear in a Japanese commercial (Nakano, 1988).
Nakano (1988) herself is the wife of a tattoo master, and her body is
covered with tattoos. She says that people are scared of her tattoos after
discovering them on her body. Of course, she does not mean to scare them.That
is a typical reaction towards the full body tattoo in Japan.
Nakedness
Brain
(1979) writes about the connection between Japanese tattoo and nudity. The
Japanese use tattooing to give personality to the naked body. A nude to them
has never been considered "divine" or even beautiful as it has in
the West. The sight of the naked body really does not have the slightest
charm. So erotic drawings never depict naked people and erotic women are never
nude. A man or woman tattooed by the irezumi
artist is never defenselessly nude without clothes. In fact tattooing
"clothes" a Japanese (p.64).
Hiler
(1929) also states that tattooing in Japan was substituted for
My
question is whether the purpose of theJapanese tattoo is to hide the naked
body because nudity is embarrassing. Nomura's article, "Remodelling the
Japanese Body" (1990) provides answers to this question. He gives an
example of the American zoologist, Edward Morse's work, Japan
Day by Day (1917). Semi-nakedness was a natural part of the landscape in
Japan at that time.
Morse's
intellectual interest was aroused by all kinds of things and
Nakedness
used to be an accepted part of daily life. The Japanese were accustomed to
seeing nudity. It did not always imply eroticism. As Hiler (1929) mentions,
the Japanese have the habit of bathing. In those days, people did not have a
bathtub at home. They usually took a public bath. Tattoo wearers took more
time for a bath to show their tattoos proudly. Besides, there were many jobs
in which the workers exposed most of their bodies: rickshaw men, fisher
people, firemen, ama (women divers)
or carpenters were all semi-naked or naked. Both males and females did not
care about being naked in public.
Imagine
sumo wrestlers. They still wrestle in the traditional way. Their nakedness was
a part of their job. Nomura (1990) also mentions that there was a travelogue
which naked peasants showed up in the early modern times. The scene of
nakedness was very natural to the Japanese. Probably, tattooed people were
often seen as well.
.
It
is often said that in Japan naked parts denote coquetry only when set in the
context of the tension resulting from the relationship between the naked and
covered parts. For example, the simple exposure of private parts is not
immediately connected with coquetry (Nomura, 1990: 262).
The
Yakuza and Tattooing
The
yakuza are notorious Japanese
syndicate members. Their history dates back over 300 years. Their origin can
be traced back to the Edo period (Kaplan and Dupro, 1986). The ancestors of
the modern yakuza
used tattooing as a mark of status.
Tattoos
are the greatest trademark of the
yakuza. When we go to see a yakuza
movie, for instance, the tattooed yakuza
often show up. Rome (1975) refers to the modern yakuza
as the title "The Tattooed Men," and describes a typical scene in a
yakuza movie: There is a gambling scene where somebody cheats, is discovered,
the kimonos
Kaplan
and Dupro (1986) state that approximately 73 percent of the yakuza
have tattoos. Among the yakuza,
undergoing tattooing was a test to show their strength. The traditional
Japanese tattoo takes a long time to complete. To wear the full body tattoo,
one needs patience to endure the time and pain. For some yakuza,
tattoos are a proof of strength, courage, toughness and masculinity. Besides,
wearing tattoos makes them feel a sense of solidarity as a member of the
organization. Such tattoos mean loyalty or faithfulness
Although
the yakuza began to accept tattoos
as their custom in the Edo period, it was not
an outstanding figure in those days. Following Japan's economic growth,
the yakuza population rapidly
increased, and became more often involved in criminal activities. Because of
the outlaws' path, we are likely to associate tattooing with the yakuza,
and eventually the fixed notion that tattooing has a criminal aspects was
built up.
However,
in recent years the number of the yakuza
with tattoos has been decreasing. Because of increased law enforcement, the yakuza
have lost many their sources of income. Moreover, Kaplan and Dupro (1986)
point out that the nature of the yakuza
has been changing. Although devoting one's life to the organization was the
way to survive in the yakuza world,
today's young yakuza become less
obedient at each step. The younger yakuza
are forsaking the full-body pictorial tattoos. They opt instead for a simple
line drawing or phrase on their upper arm, more similar to the tattoos of
Western youths. The reason, says researcher Hoshino, is not a change in
aesthetics: the old-style tattoos cost a fortune, and are simply no longer
worth either the physical or financial stress (Kaplan and
Dupro,
1986: 273).
Since
the Act for Prevention of Unlawful Activities by Boryokudan
To
be tattooed in Japan is to abandon conventional society and go into the
underworld. It is true that some yakuza
tend not to have tattoos. Tattooing is no longer used as either a test of
strength or a sign of solidarity among the yakuza.
Bath
Girls and Tattoo
Tattoos
and sensuality are often connected. Nakano (1988) in her book titled Irezumishi
no onnatachi (the wives of tattooists) states that tattoos have sex
appeal, uncovering the practice of tattooing among Japanese women involved
with the sex industry. "Soapland"
is a place which men come in and choose a bath girl to have sexual pleasure
with. "Soap" refers to a bathtub or bathroom. "Soapland"
refers to the bathhouse with the brothel. However, technically, sex activities
are not involved with this business. If the soap
jo, bath girl of the soapland had tattoos, she would have been regarded as
a "defective" product (Nakano, 1988). However, the number of
tattooed girl-lovers has increased recently in order to satisfy their desire.
The tattooed soap jos are becoming
popular (Nakano, 1988). Some soap jos
want to be covered with tattoos for their job.
One-point
Tattoo
Contemporary
tattoo style evolves from the West. Tattooing is treated as a body art and is
gaining popularity among young people. "One-point tattoo" means
getting only one tattoo, and is often used among young Japanese. Some Japanese
choose to wear skulls, roses or hearts. The fashion in the entertainment world
affects Japanese youth culture. For instance, my friend was a fan of a rock
band and got a rose tattoo which represents a symbol of the band. Recently,
Japanese entertainers with tattoos often show up on TV or in magazines. One
Japanese pop singer has a tattoo of a bar code on her wrist, and the young
tend to follow her style.
Nakano
(1988) also states that tattooing has become more popular among Japanese
females than males. Tattooing in Japan used to be dominated by males, but the
tattooed female population is increasing. Females tend to be more keen on
fashions than males, and tattooing is accepted as a fashion among Japanese
women (p.195).
The
attitudes towards the one-point tattoo and the full body tattoo are, more or
less, different. Unlike the full body tattoo, the one-point tattoo is more
acceptable as a fashion trend among the young in Japan.
Ethics
in Japanese Adornment
According
to a recent article in a Japanese newspaper, tattoos
The
cultural code is still a big part of Japanese ethics. The body arts
From
One-point Tattoo to Tatuu
Recently,
tattooing seems to be more popular among Japanese people than a few years ago,
not as just "one-point tattoo," but as tatuu(tattoo). Tatuu
is a Japanese-English term,
coming from the English word, "tattoo." Japanese often use
tatuu instead irezumi or horimono
. A magazine article describes the current tattoo situation. Many Japanese
tattooers and tattooees gathered in Osaka for a photograph convention held by
a magazine publisher in April, 1999 (Mori 1999). They showed off their tattoos
proudly, and tended to compare and compete with others: "My tattoo cost
more than yours!" According to this article (Mori, 1999), the number of
young Japanese tattooists who learned tattooing in the West is growing. While
the Western designs are becoming popular among young Japanese, the Japanese
traditional style is highly appreciated among tattoo-lovers.
Japanese people often use these terms, youbori
and wabori to
For
example, the designs of this style are flowers, animals, cartoon
