wooden doll (called a kokeshi) makes a striking comparison between the courtesan and the doll itself. Kokeshi can be tokens of friendship, but are sometimes compared to phalluses, underscoring the lush, sexualized themes in this tattoo.
Hannya masks (see page 112) are iconic and powerful. The back is the body’s biggest canvas for irezumi—and what better way to make a statement than with a giant Hannya?
TATTOO PROHIBITION
Today, tattooing isn’t banned in Japan, but the practice exists in a legal gray zone. In 2001, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare classified tattooing as a medical procedure, with the rationale that only a licensed health care professional can penetrate the skin with a needle and insert pigment. The government, however, does not issue tattoo licenses, and the industry continues to be unregulated. In some parts of the country, there are large, open tattoo shops right on the street with clearly marked signs. In other regions, tattooers work out of unmarked studios and rented apartments.
From the late 19th century to the end of World War II, tattooing was illegal in Japan. During the U.S. Occupation (1945–1952), the tattoo ban was finally lifted after an American officer under General Douglas MacArthur met with Horiyoshi II of Tokyo. (Note: this Horiyoshi family is different from the Yokohama Horiyoshi line.) The U.S. military might have been more accepting of the craft due to its tradition of service members getting inked.
Irezumi prohibition had been part of an effort to modernize and align Japan with Western morals. During the 19th century, officials issued various edicts against tattooing (one 1811 edict pointed out that, horrors of horrors, irezumi were fashionable among the country’s youth). These went largely ignored, but in 1872, the Tokyo government announced the Ishiki Kai ordinance, which was soon followed by a similar national decree. The Ishiki Kai ordinance banned major and minor social transgressions, including peeing in front of stores, being naked in public, mixed communal bathing, selling pornography, and tattooing. Those who violated serious infractions, such as tattooing, were fined. Those who couldn’t pay the fine were whipped. People who already had ink could avoid police trouble by paying for a permit.
The ban, however, applied only to Japanese people. The government never anticipated that some foreign visitors, including those from the upper echelons of society, would become enamored of tattoos. There was an obvious gap in how foreigners saw irezumi and how the Japanese ruling class saw them. Lord Charles Beresford, an admiral and a member of British Parliament, got tattooed in Japan, and later recalled how the country’s upper crust was astonished because they thought it was only for the “common people.”
A traditional American black panther design infused with Hannya mask elements.
Irezumi have provided plenty of fodder for Japanese pulp writers.
Not all the 20th-century pulp stories were set in the modern day. This one shows a traditional horishi at work.
No Tattoos Allowed
Check Your Ink At The Door
At hot springs, public baths, swimming pools, and gyms across Japan, you’ll see signs that state the same thing: folks with tattoos cannot enter.
It wasn’t always so. In the years after World War II, when many middle- and lower-class families in towns and cities still used the local bathhouses because they didn’t have tubs at home, establishments couldn’t be picky about clientele. Everyone needed to bathe.
As the Japanese economy grew in the 1960s and 70s, and as urban homes became more luxurious, regular public bathing became less common. This also meant that tattoos were seen more rarely. Bathhouses and hot springs became more strict about who they would and would not let in.
These days, not all establishments have tattoo bans. There are hot springs and bathhouses that allow inked bathers (though they might ask you to cover your tattoo with a towel or even a special sticker). Some that technically don’t allow them might turn a blind eye, especially for international visitors. Don’t expect that, though: In 2013, for example, one Hokkaido hot springs denied entry to a New Zealand woman with traditional Maori facial tattoos. The incident made international news.
This warning sign was posted at a pachinko parlor entrance. Note that it uses the irezumi kanji (入れ墨) that refers to punishment tattoos.
Inked Royals
Blood Blue, Black Ink
During the late 19th century, tattoos became a fad among European royalty. For bluebloods, permanent ink was the ultimate souvenir of an exotic voyage.
The British king Edward VII helped to kick off this trend after getting a Crusaders’ cross tattooed on his forearm in Jerusalem. As a boy, Edward wore naval-inspired playsuits and popularized sailor clothes among the Europeans, which later spread to Japan. That Edward was quite the trendsetter!
His sons, Prince Albert Victor and the future King George V, both got dragon tattoos while visiting Japan in 1881. The last Russian Tsar, the future Nicholas II, also got a dragon tattooed on his arm while visiting Japan in 1891. During that trip, there was an attempt on his life. He survived, but didn’t make it through the Bolshevik Revolution.
Regal tattoo enthusiasts like Nicholas II were irezumi’s earliest ambassadors.
THE RISE OF ONE-POINT TATTOOS
One-point designs are popular today in Japan, especially among people who want some ink but don’t want to make the commitment that bodysuits or large back pieces require. In Japan, one-point designs traditionally have been a way to distinguish Western-style tattoos from the irezumi house style. Many tattooers in Japan are equally fluent in both, and can do big pieces surrounded by gakubori (see page 136) and isolated one-point tattoos. This flexibility ensures steady work, but it’s hardly a new phenomenon.
During the 19th century, Japanese tattooers began modifying their designs to appeal to foreign customers. Most tattoo tourists got isolated one-point tattoos depicting things like samurai or geisha. In comparison, the full bodysuits, with their intricate designs and elaborate backgrounds, must have looked like artistic marvels to foreigners. No wonder they influenced a generation of talented Western tattooers like Sutherland MacDonald and George Burchett.
Few visiting Japan, however, completely covered themselves in ink. The reason was convenience: Most simply didn’t have the time and wanted something that could be done quickly. There were exceptions, though. Over the course of several months in 1872, Charles Longfellow, son of the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, got several years’ worth of irezumi, including an image of Kannon (page 89) on his chest and a koi fish (page 73) ascending a waterfall on his back. Because so much work was jammed into a short period of time, Longfellow didn’t have the time to recoup between sessions, so he got morphine injections to make it through.
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