The art of tattooing has a long and prosperous history in Japan. The custom of designing tattoos has been a eminent part of the Japanese culture although the conception of the art form has changed over the years.
Japanese people have named the art of tattooing with various names. Although the term Irezumi normally refers to the tattoo designing on any of the large parts of human body such as the back, it is also used as a general expression for any kind of tattooing. Horimono is another Japanese term for this art. Full body tattoos also are known in Japan.
It is amusing to know that inside Japan, getting yourself tattooed means you are marking yourself as a red-blooded male or you are admitting yourself as belonging to Yakuza, the scandalous Japanese Mafia. According to the history, tattooing was stimulated by Buddhism and Confucianism to a large extent and that may be why it has got a negative impression with it.
The earliest traces of the art of tattooing belong to the Ainu people who were amongst the first settlers of Japan. The Wa people is another tribe that was known for its full body tattooing custom. The history of tattoo art traces back to 1700 years ago.
The highly sophisticated Chinese neighbours of the Japanese were of the opinion that the practice of tattooing was in fact a barbaric art. With the transition of Buddhism from China to Japan they too adopted the same conception for the art of tattooing. Tattoos were then used to tag the criminals as a way of punishment.
The Edo era was the golden age for tattooing as it turned the corner and started to be recognized as a fashionable trend. Workmen and firemen had the habit of tattooing and even the prostitutes found their way to win over their clients by adoring themselves with tattoos.
in the 18th century tattooing replaced the amputation of ears and nose to sentence the criminals. A character tattoo in the forehead or a ring tattoo on the forearm became the emblem of a criminal. In 1870, the Meiji government stopped this practice.
However this practice had a long-term consequence as it formed a new class of rejected people who were kept away from the society. There were too many masterless Samurai people among them and they ganged up themselves and started to conduct offences. Consequently this caused the formation of the Japanese Mafia.
Today however we find that the idea of tattooing has drastically changed from what it used to be back in those years. Although it continues to have a negative undertone for the majority in Japan it is increasingly being taken as a way of making a fashion statement.
Traditional Japanese tattoo art are often given preferance to contemporary methods due to spiritual reasons . In order to learn more about Japanese flower art please click on the links.
