JAPANESE TATTOO HISTORY

Japanese tattoo culture, also known as “irezumi” is deep, complex and often contradictory. It is said to span over 10,000 years, evolving from spiritual symbolism to outlaw culture and ultimately into a celebrated global art form.

Clay figurines (dogū) from the Jomon period (10,000 BCE) display facial and body markings that many scholars interpret as tattoos or body paint and Chinese texts from the Yayoi period (300 BCE) describe the Japanese people, called the Wa, as having tattoos all over their bodies.

During the Kofun period (300-600 BCE) tattoos were used as a punishment, especially for criminals. Throughout the Heian period (794-1185) criminal tattoos became standard legal punishment.

From the Kamakura to Muromachi periods (1185-1600) tattooing persisted mainly among lower classes and outlaws. In some isolated communities, like Ainu women in Hokkaido, tattooing with social and spiritual significance still continued.

The Edo period (1603-1868) is one of the most significant periods in Japanese tattooing, known as “The Golden Age of Irezumi”.

Criminals were still being tattooed as punishment but a new form of decorative tattooing emerged, heavily influenced by woodblock prints “ukiyo-e” and literature. This style of irezumi was embraced by the working class of firefighters, laborers and merchants as well as the Yakuza.

One major source of inspiration was the Chinese novel “Suikoden” - story of 108 heroic outlaws, many of whom had elaborate full body tattoos.

This era was when many of the recognisable motifs and symbology of the Japanese style was established. The technique of traditional tattooing by hand is called “tebori”.

In the Meiji period (1868-1912) the government banned tattoos in 1872 in an effort to “modernize” and “westernize” to avoid embarrassing foreign dignitaries.

Tattooing became illegal and was driven underground. The tattoo artists continued to operate secretly, often serving foreigners or members of the Yakuza.

Tattoos became synonymous with the Yakuza, Japan’s organized crime syndicates. Because of this association, tattoos were (and still are) widely stigmatised in Japanese society.

Tattooing was legalized again after World War 2 under American occupation in 1948.

From the 1950’s and onwards, as eastern and western tattooers exchanged knowledge and ideas, the Japanese tattoo style became globally respected as an art from.