Tattoos 13.1.03 15:31 Page 14
1 | A brief history of Japanese tattooing
14
Tattooing in Japan, as in many cultures, is an ancient practice. Early accounts from China describe the inhabitants of Japan as being tattooed in a highly decorative manner. Van Gulik writes: ‘In a section of the Hou Han-shu, the History of the Later Han Dynasty (ad 25–220), compiled around the year ad 445, it is recorded that the Wa [a people thought to have inhabited Japan not later than 265 bc], both men and women, tattoo their faces and decorate their bodies with designs, the size and position of which vary according to rank’.2 Archaeological records in the form of clay figurines bearing what appear to be tattoo designs date back to the Jemon period (10,000–300 bc). These markings are generally assumed to be tattoos, but there is no conclusive evidence as to their specific nature and function. The figurines emphasise the desire for body decoration, but their design and overall quality have little in common with what is now known as the Japanese tattoo. Understanding the word irezumi (‘the insertion of ink’) and how its meaning has altered over the years offers insight into how tattooing in Japan has fallen in and out of favour. Originally, irezumi referred to tattoos as a form of punishment. This practice also fell in and out of official favour and was last officially sanctioned by the eighth Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751) in 1720. For many years tattooists refused to use this term, wishing to distance their art from the rather brutal practice of punishment tattooing. They began to call themselves horishi, derived from the verb horu, to dig or carve, the same title used by the carvers of woodblock prints. They called tattoos horimono, meaning ‘carved object’, rather than irezumi. This re-titling emphasised the skills tattooing required and linked the tattoo to the woodblock. The term irezumi has lost its negative connotations and today refers exclusively to the highly developed Japanese decorative tattoo. In contrast to punitive tattooing, what developed into the much-admired ‘Japanese body-suit’ began as an expression of love. In the pleasure districts of Kyoto and Osaka, lovers would often exchange tattoos in the form of small black dots as love tokens. This practice quickly spread to Edo. Called irebokuro (‘engraved mole’) and sometimes kisho-bori (‘pledge marks’) these were the precursor to the now common practice of sporting the tattooed name of a loved one. There are less welldocumented accounts of tattoos of this era having religious significance, in the form of prayers or kanji representing deities. From these simple beginnings, the Japanese tattoo slowly evolved into a decorative art. Japanese decorative tattooing was a product of the Edo period and its growth ran parallel with the popularity of the woodblock print. According to Van Gulik, the first decorative tattooists imitating the style of the woodblock prints may very well have