The yakuza.
You know them as a gang that mostly controls the red light district owning the businesses
there or even the territories. There's always stories about them very into their honor and
loyalty between themselves but of course, still does all the illegal stuff in the background.
Now their history began in the early 17th century in Japan. They comprised of men who
sold stolen or illegals goods or ran gambling dens. These men called their group the Ninkyō
Dantai which means the chivalrous organization.
So seeing how they handle illegal businesses, it is common for these men to be in and out
of prison. At the time, authorities would brand these men that had been to prison with
tattoos to mark them as criminals.
This was the start of tattoos by the early Yakuza members. They added more new tattoos
in addition to their prison tattoos, then it later became a custom and tradition of
the group where new tattoos means status within the organization and is a way to identify
themselves to other Yakuza members with.
A bit like a permanent badge of honour engraved in the skin for their achievements. This was
also something that brought them all together because tattoo art wasn't practiced by everyone
else as it was entirely associated with criminals.
Even now, there is still a connection between criminals and tattoos in Japan. Thus this
is why yakuza members wear their tattoos traditionally on parts of the body covered by clothing.
Their tattoos would often cover the entire body from ankles to wrists and to right under
the collar.
This placement of body art means the hands, feet and face can be shown in public without revealing
the presence of the body art beneath the clothing. Most full body art worn by the yakuza has
a strip of bare skin through the centre of the chest. This is so the yakuza member can
unbutton his shirt without the tattoos being seen.
Tradition and their toughness made gang members to have their tattoo designs by using a painful
process called Irezumi. As the process of irezumi is painful, it is considered proof
of the gang member's courage and determination for their gang. Also, being able to afford
an entire body suit of irezumi tattoos
(which by the way is called "horimono")
means that the yakuza member is successful in his business pursuit as it is not cheap
at all, could go more than thousands of dollars per part.
Irezumi is a form of tattooing but is performed using a "brush" made from either steel or
bamboo of about 2 dozen needles at the end. It's not like the modern high speed tattoo
machines as this method of delivering tattoo ink to the skin is slow and painful because
it is manually administered.
The tattoo artist would dip the needle tip of the brush in ink and would repetitively poke the
skin to create the design. Because of the slow process of ink poking, it could take
decades to complete a full body suit of tattoos.
Also, Irezumi artists have a reputation themselves. They are said to be leading mysterious lives
and only prefer to gain new clients through word-of-mouth rather than advertising their
services out in the open. It also takes a long time for the artists to begin their careers
as they start with being an apprentice that can only clean the work space, prepare tools
and watch the main irezumi artist tattooing clients.
They can also only begin practicing their tattoo art on themselves until they are good enough.
The designs in yakuza tattoos are mostly symbolic and mostly focuses on Japanese mythology and
history. Dragons and koi as symbols of wealth and prosperity. Samurai warriors represent
honor and a moral code. Geishas stand for symbols of fertility, good fortune and tradition.
Then there's also Buddha, folklore creatures and even depictions of their Shinto gods.
The tattoos are one of the prominent traditions they have but then there's also scary ones
like Yubitsume which is the act of cutting off the tip of a finger as a way to apologize
to the gang for disobedience. Another one that is so cliche and even mentioned or should
I say, made fun of in dramas or manga, the infamous thrown and drowned in Tokyo bay.