There is a new fad gaining popularity in Japan today; one that has both influences from the west and Japan's past. This would be the tattoo. To older generations, tattoos were synonymous with Yakuza or other undesirable people. "The shift to tattooing criminals began in earnest around 1720. Facial marking replaced nose and ear amputation as punishment, and tattoos were used to single out criminals as a way of warning others against committing the same crimes."-JapanToday
This in a way helped create organized crime in Japan; by forcing those shunned by society to band together. There were, however two types of people that were allowed to have tattoos. One being men of very high status, the other being people like samurai or firemen, who would often be killed in such ways that they body would not be recognizable by any other means. Even with the influence of western media, where tattoos are popular, many young Japanese still have to deal with the pressures of the old generations. There are still bathhouses which do not allow customers with tattoos and workers must be cover tattoos when on the job as not to give the customer the wrong impression.
Tattoos come into the Mainstream
The Art of Irezumi
5 comments:
Are there any tattoo parlors nearby where you can pop your head in and ask a few questions? I'd love to see how the artists view themselves nowadays, and if they think the art will ever be more openly accepted.
there is one in namba, the girl with the sailor moon tattoo got her's done there.
It seems like you could explore tattoos as pop culture in this post and as traditional in your next post... Weren't samurai high status? Firefighters were rough and tumble types, and it is said that the yakuza traces their use of tattoos to them. Check out Joy Hendry's chapter on Japanese tattoos in:
Japan at Play: The Ludic and Logic of Power By Joy Hendry, Massimo Raveri Published by Routledge, 2002
Here's another good link with info and references.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Japanese-Tattoo-Art
A former vis anth student did a blog on Japanese body modification (unfortunatgely some of her pictures are cut off...):
http://kguanthropology.blogspot.com/
That's my sister!! WHEW!!!
Hello, I do not agree with the previous commentator - not so simple
Post a Comment