ICAS public lecture: Irezumi vs.Tattoos - Perceptions of Japanese Tattooing from Past to Present

1. TATTOO AND BATHHOUSE BANS
IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
Professor Yoshimi Yamamoto
Tsuru University

2. MY PROFILE
 Researching the cultural
anthropology of
Japanese tattooing since
the 1990s
 Completed a PhD on the
modern history of
Japanese tattooing in
2000
 Published books on
Japanese tattooing in
2005 & 2016 (Right: my
latest book, Tattoos and
the Japanese)
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3. MUSEE DU QUAI, BRANLY IN PARIS
MAY 2014
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4. IREZUMI/TATTOO AND MULTICULTURAL
COEXISTENCE: “LEARNING ABOUT THE ISSUES
WITH
TATTOOS AND ONSEN”
 March 30, 2019
 International
symposium about the
issues with tattoos and
onsen
 Nearly 180 participants
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5. INDEPENDENT EXHIBITION IN
OKINAWA PREFECTURAL MUSEUM & ART MUSEUM
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6. SAMPLE OF IREZUMI IN AMAMI ISLAND
IN KAGOSHIMA PREFECTURE
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7. PATTERNS/DESIGNS DIFFER DEPENDING ON THE AREA -
AMAMI, OKINAWA AND OTHER ISLANDS
SOUTH OF JAPAN
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8. THE OKINAWAN TRADITIONAL TATTOO ”HAJICHI AND
TAIWAN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TRADITIONAL TATTOO
HISTORY AND NOW
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9. TAYAL WOMAN WITH
TATTOOS ON HER
FACE
(LEFT)
CUDIUY PATJIDRES,
TATTOOIST FROM
THE PAIWAN
INDIGENOUS TRIBE
IN TAIWAN (RIGHT)
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10. TA TAU ORIGIN OF ENGLISH WORD
JJA“TATTOO”
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11. VARIATION OF THE WORD “TATTOO”
 Irezumi（入墨）Originated as a punishment to criminals, and
later became generalized
 Irezumi（入れ墨）Specifically used in newspapers
 Gei（黥）One of the ancient way
 Sumi（墨）Monmon(紋々）Gaman（我慢）
Old way used in Western Japan
 Bunshin（文身）Generally used in written form, not used lately
 Shisei（刺青）Junichiro Tanizaki, novelist, used in his first
novel and became popularly used
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12. WESTERN CULTURE AND TATTOO
 Wabori/Yobori（Japanese style/Western style）Those words
were used in Japan after Tattoo was introduced in Japan
 Tattoo（Generic terms used to indicate all tattoos, from
indigenous people to the present）
 Ink （Term in English speaking countries）
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13. EXAMPLES OF SIGNS PROHIBITING TATTOOS
AT SUMA AND TAKATSUKI
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14. “People with tattoos may not
use the bath or the bathing
area.
These rules are all an
important part of our culture
and we ask that you respect
them.”
SIGN AT BATHHOUSE ENTRANCE
(IN TAKATSUKI CITY, OSAKA)
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15. SIGN PROHIBITING THE DISPLAY OF
TATTOOS AT SUMA BEACH, KOBE
In February 2011, the Kobe city government
proposed a bylaw banning people with tattoos from
the Suma Beach area. It was passed in April 2011.
 Human rights issues?
 Influence on other jurisdictions?
 Kobe’s status as an international city?
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16. ‘WE ASK PEOPLE WITH TATTOOS TO VALUE THEIR TIME AND MONEY’
TOKYO SUMMERLAND SWIMMING POOL WEBSITE
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17. WHY ARE TATTOOS
FORBIDDEN IN
JAPAN?
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18. TATTOO CULTURE WAS FOR
TRADESPEOPLE AND OUTLAWS
Messenger
Horichiyo, famed late 19th-
century tattooist
Database of
Nagasaki
University
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19. TATTOOS WERE USED FOR PUNISHMENT IN THE
EDO PERIOD
➡ THE SOURCE OF PREJUDICE TODAY?
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20. LEGAL RESTRICTIONS PRIOR TO 1948
 In 1811 and 1842, Edo Government prohibits
tattooing
 The Meiji Government, active in importing
Western civilization to Japan, saw tattooed
people as an embarrassment and placed
prohibitions on artists and clients in 1872.
 A source of contemporary prejudice against
tattoo?
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21. THE MEGA-HIT PERIOD DRAMA SERIES,
TOYAMA NO KIN-SAN
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22. WHY ARE THERE
‘NO TATTOO’ SIGNS AT HOT SPRINGS,
PUBLIC BATHHOUSES AND BEACHES?
1963-1973, The Golden Age of the
Yakuza Film
Over 1000 yakuza films produced in
the following 30 years
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23. POSTERS OF YAKUZA FILMS
Karajishi Jingi 1969
Bakuchiuchi Ippikiryu
1967
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24. Shura no Mure 1984 Mamushi No Kyodai 1971
POSTERS OF YAKUZA FILMS
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25. SOCIAL CHANGE AMID RAPID ECONOMIC
GROWTH
From the late 1950s, private homes
become equipped with showers and
baths, and public bathhouses start to
close.
➡ Fewer opportunities to see others
naked
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26. CHANGES IN JAPANESE SOCIETY
Mass-production of yakuza films led
tattoos to be seen as the mark of the
yakuza rather than the tradesman
Structural transformation of the
economy saw a shift from primary and
secondary industries to tertiary
(service) industry
➡Office dress regulations increasingly
prevent people from having tattoos 26

27. Yamaguchigumi Gaiden
Kyushu Shinko Sakusen
(1974)
YAKUZA FILMS EXPORTED OVERSEAS
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28. TAKESHI KITANO’S
OUTRAGE (2010)
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29. TAKASHI MIIKE’S
YAKUZA APOCALYPSE (2015)
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30. The Wolverine
(2013)
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31. CHANGES SINCE THE 1990S
 1992 Anti-Organized Crime Law
 ‘No tattoo’ signs erected outside public baths?
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32. 1980S: CONTEMPORARY TATTOOS BECOME
POPULAR AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE
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33. THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IS EXPECTING
4 MILLION OVERSEAS VISITORS IN 2020
What is the future of
Japanese tattooing?
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