Origin of The Japanese body art and its meaning.
Irezumi are traditional Japanese tattoos. Irezumi is the Japanese word for tattoo, and Japanese tattooing has had its own distinct style created over centuries. Irezumi is done by hand, using wooden handles and metal needles attached via silk thread. This method also requires special ink called nara ink. It is a painful and time consuming process, done by a limited number of specialists. Irezumi was initially associated with firemen, who wore them as a form of spiritual protection. They were admired figures of bravery and roguish sex-appeal, which inspired imitation. At the beginning of the Meiji period the Japanese government outlawed tattoos, and Irezumi took on connotations of criminality. Many yakuza and other criminals now avoid tattoos for this very reason.
Irezumi: Tattooing the Art of Pain
The tattoo artist is called a Horishi, and usually has one or more apprentices working for him for a long period of time. They often become a part of the horishies tattoo family. Irezumi artists begin their careers as apprentices. For the first few years the apprentice cleans the work space, prepares tools and watches the horishi tattooing clients. The apprentice is then allowed to begin practicing designs by drawing them. Only when the apprentice is a competent artist may they begin practicing tattoo art, often on themselves. Many horishies lead fairly mysterious lives and prefer to gain new clients through word-of-mouth rather than advertising their services.
Process
Hand poked tattoos: known as irezumi in Japan, are created using a “brush” made from either steel or bamboo. The tattoo artist dips the needle tips in ink ( nara ink ) and repetitively pokes the skin to create a design. Compared to modern, high speed tattoo machines, this method of delivering tattoo ink to the skin is remarkably painful and slow. The traditional yakuza body suit of tattoos can take decades to complete, as the yakuza member can only add to the design when he has time and money available.
Yakuza
Yakuza also known as gokudō are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The yakuza are notorious for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom-nature and for several unconventional ritual practices. Yakuza members are often described as males with heavily tattooed bodies and slicked hair yet this group is still regarded as being among the most sophisticated and wealthiest criminal organizations.
In Japan, tattoos and the yakuza often seem inseparable. Not every gangster has a tattoo and not everyone with a full bodysuit is a gangster, but when pop culture depicts the underworld, anti-heroes come fully inked. Case in point, the Yakuza games.
Skin deep, they are not. But the same goes for Japanese tattoos, which have a long, complex history that connects them to so much of the country’s culture—even, if mainstream Japan often wants little to do with them.
Yakuza Tattoo Body Suits
Because of the connection between criminals and tattoos in Japan, yakuza members traditionally wear their tattoos on parts of the body that can be hidden by clothing. Yakuza tattoos often cover the entire body from the ankles to the wrists and the collar, a placement of body art that means the hands, feet and face can be shown in public without revealing the presence of the body art beneath the clothing. Some yakuza tattoo body suits have a strip of bare skin running down the center of the chest so that the yakuza member can unbutton his shirt without the tattoos being seen.
Beautiful Yakuza Tattoos and Their Symbolic Meaning
The majority of designs in yakuza tattoos focus on Japanese mythology and history. Dragons and koi fish often appear in yakuza tattoos as symbols of wealth and prosperity. Samurai warriors represent honor and a moral code, while geisha stand as symbols of fertility, good fortune and tradition. Other traditional Japanese designs that feature in yakuza tattoos are lotus flowers and cherry blossoms, tigers and elemental symbols.
The Koi Fish
The koi fish is a common yakuza tattoo that generally relates to good luck and fortune. In Japanese folklore, it's said koi can climb waterfalls, working against a heavy current. Thus, koi represent perseverance, and are often used to indicate that a person has made it through tough times. All of this applies to black koi.
Red koi in tattoos represent love of some kind, typically strong, masculine love, such as the fraternal bonds of yakuza membership. Blue koi are symbols of reproduction, and considered very masculine.
The Dragon
Dragons are viewed differently in Japan than in the West. The Japanese see dragons as benefactors and protectors of mankind. Dragon tattoos symbolize bravery, wisdom, and strength. Black dragons are associated with experience and wisdom. Green dragons are associated with nature, and gold dragons represent value and a variety of virtues. Blue dragons are gentle, forgiving, and benevolent, while yellow dragons are noble companions.
In addition to symbolic colors, there are six dragon variants in Japanese culture. They are Sui, Han, Ri, Fuku, Ka, and Hai, which are often written with the word "ryu" (dragon) on the end (for instance, Sui-ryu). Each of these variants has its own meaning; Sui, for instance, is the king of dragons, while Ri possess extraordinary vision.
The Samurai
Samurai tattoos represent the code of Bushido, literally the way (do) of the warrior (bushi). The code stresses honor, courage, loyalty, and proper action, and is rooted in Buddhist and Confucian ideas. Yakuza have adopted many tenets from Bushido, and consider themselves protectors of ancient Japanese tradition. A close reading of yakuza history shows this is untrue; early yakuza were enemies of samurai, or at least had very uneasy relationships with them. However, when samurai absorbed into mainstream society in the Edo and Meiji periods, some joined the yakuza, and got samurai tattoos as a mark of identity and heritage.
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry blossoms ("sakura") are deeply significant in the Japanese culture. Their ephemeral nature and very short lifespan symbolize life itself, which in traditional Japanese belief is little more than grass floating in a rapidly flowing stream. Once sakura fall from the tree, they're scattered by wind and rain, and vanish from the earth.
Every year, the Japanese hold hanami (flower viewing), celebrations of life during which friends and family have a little party and get drunk while admiring the beauty of the spring sakura. Put one way, sakura tattoos represent that life is fleeting but full of color and beauty.
Oni Mask
Oni are ogres or demons that dole out gruesome punishment to the wicked. They are tall and terrifying, usually depicted with red or blue skin, wild white hair, and tusks. They wield massive, spiked clubs, can change form at will, inflict disease, insanity, and death as they see fit, and are intelligent and extremely nasty. Their favorite food is human flesh.
Thus, the oni mask tattoo represents the enforcement of behavior codes or the doling out of punishment. Oni are known to terrorize villages, cause social deterioration, and are considered reincarnations of particularly wicked people, which matches nicely with the yakuza lifestyle.
The Foo Dog
Foo dogs, also called the Lions of Buddha, are guardians of Buddhist temples. If you've ever visited a Japanese temple, you've undoubtedly seen statues of foo dogs, which come in pairs and are known as komainu. The creature is actually a lion, and gets its nickname from its resemblance to dogs.
A popular yakuza tattoo, the foo dog provides protection against danger and evil. Because foo dogs come in pairs, it's not uncommon for a person to have two of them tattooed.
That was a brief about the beauty and the historic riches of Japanese art of tattooing and about Yakuza and what these tattoos means to them and spiritual meaning behind most of the popular designs and symbols of Japanese culture, you can always read more about Japanese art if you're interested in doing one of those designs to learn more about the backstory of the piece you're doing and to pick a piece that has the most meaning to you. Think before you INK!
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