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Japanese Youths Break Tattoo Taboo
Young Japanese are breaking one of Japan's strongest taboos, the one on tattoos. In the trendiest areas of Tokyo and Osaka an increasing number of youths sport colorful tattoos which they are not ashamed to show. It is a radical break with the values their parents and grandparents lived by.
Japanese tattoos are universally seen as the pinnacle of the art of tattoo. Detail and complexity grew from the experience of the tattoo artists of the 17th and 18th centurries who often had a background in ukiyoe woodblock printing. In spite of these artistic origins and the amazing beauty of Japanese tattoos, the tattoo has for centuries carried a strong taboo in Japan's society. The majority of Japanese people have always been strongly against tattooing.
This stigmatization has been so pervasive that tattoos had a strong negative effect on social standing and employment opportunities.
It wasn't always so.
According to the third century Chinese history, Gishiwajinden, the oldest record mentioning Japan, tattoos held an important position in Japanese society. They had both a ritual purpose and indicated hierarchical position:
"The men of Wa tattoo their faces and paint their bodies with designs. They are fond of diving for fish and shells. Long ago they decorated their bodies in order to protect themselves from large fish. Later these designs became ornamental. Body painting differs among the various tribes. The position and size of the designs vary according to the rank of individuals."
The Chinese, influenced by Confucianism, believed that tattoos were marks of barbarism. This Chinese way of thinking eventually entered Japan during the Kofun Period (A.D. 300-600). Over the centuries tattoos gained a new status as marks of retribution and punishment. Criminals were tattooed so they could be easily identified at city gates.
During the Edo period (1600-1868), common people were for the first time able to make fortunes, yet still restricted by strict rules. Many escaped to the floating world (pleasure quarters) where a unique new culture developed, in which ukiyoe-inspired tattoos played an important role.
The Japanese ruling classes were never quite happy with this development. They finally succeeded in persuading the Japanese government to ban tattooing after the Meiji Restoration in 1868. It was't until 1948, under pressure of the United States Occupation forces, that tattooing was legalized.
During its illegal years Japanese tattoos were kept alive underground, automatically attracting the fringes of Japanese society. Over the years Japanese organized crime, the Yakuza, were strongly identified with tattoos.
Only now, fifty years after tattoos were legalized, Japanese youths have finally gotten the courage to break the strong taboo on tattoos. The trend appears strongest among young women in their early twenties who fancy one-point tattoos and not the traditional body-suits. Some women see it as a fashion statement, others want to hide a disfiguring scar, others again use a tattoo to remind themselves of a personal resolution or as a kind of magic protection. Just like their ancestors did more than 2000 years ago...
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