IREZUMI, literally means “inserting ink” in Japanese, is traditional Japanese tattoos. 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. The process is done by hand- poking, meaning that the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non- electrical tools. Doing this is expensive, painful, and time consuming. It is done by a limited number of professional tattoo artists called Horishi, with sophisticated skills.
Tattooing can be traced back centuries, however, flamboyant full-body tattoos became popular in 17th century among fire fighters, messengers and gamblers, many of the designs were based on ukiyo-e woodblock prints. In 1872, Tattooing was prohibited by the newly created Meiji government, thinking that tattoos would be perceived by the West as a barbaric custom. In contrast to this, Western perception at the highest levels, tattoos were seen as one of the most attractive aspects of Japanese culture. Many European aristocrats were among these foreigners awe-struck by the talents of Japanese tattoists, who were still allowed legally to tattoo foreigners. In 1869, Prince Alfred – one of Queen Victoria’s sons – was the first of several members of British royalty to get a tattoo in Japan. Twelve years later, Prince George – the future George V – received a blue-and–red dragon on his arm in Tokyo and then a second dragon in Kyoto.
Other European blue-bloods to receive ink in Japan during the late 19th century included Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I, and Nicholas II, Russia’s final czar, who was executed following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
In the 19th century, when irezumi artists began tattooing foreign sailors, their work was eventually “exhibited” all over the world. In 1948 the ban was finally lifted.
