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Tattooed!
by Yuri Narula
Horimono. Literal translation: carved things. In this case, "things" are people's bodies. A little macabre perhaps, but I'm referring to traditional full-body Japanese tattoos, not some masochistic fetish carried out in someone's basement apartment. Westerners are familiar with tattoos and often have parts of their bodies carved with designs or pictures that appeal to them. The concept of traditional Japanese tattoo, however, is a little more involved.
Japanese tattoos are world-renowned for beautifully detailed designs of carp, dragons, waves, and lotus flowers. However, these items don't exist as tattoos on their own. You don't go in and say, "I want a fish swimming in waves," and have experienced horimono. That's the Western idea of "getting" a tattoo. Those items - the flowers, the fish - are all part of a story. Japanese tattoos are large-scale works of art that use the body as a canvas. Horimono draws on Chinese folk stories, kabuki tales, and Japanese myth. The artist puts a well-known story of a mythical warrior, creature, or god to picture, depicting the trials and victories of the ancients. Usually, the telling of this story in picture form is large enough to take up the whole body. By committing to horimono, you are getting an incredibly beautiful, detailed, historically steeped piece of art tattooed to your body. |
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When I was young, my mother forbid me from getting a tattoo. She said that only prostitutes and gangsters had them. The association of full-bodied tattoos with Yakuza (gangster) culture, fueled by decades of movies and some real-life Yakuza, has resulted in the misguided notion that the only people in Japan to get horimono are part of this group. Even though many Yakuza get these tattoos, it is certainly not limited to them. In fact, most people who have horimono guard their bodies and tattoos as secret treasures. In the past, horimono was popular with tough, muscular men who had strong community spirit. They usually performed physically taxing jobs like firefighting and rickshaw driving. Today "normal" people - like bankers, teachers, salaried people, and fire fighters - are covered with these beautiful stories. |
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Horimono is a painful procedure. After the design has been decided, you've got to go in about 10-20 times before it is completed. Each one hour session costs about 20,000 yen. These days, the outline is done using the usual electric tattoo gun, but the shading is done traditionally by hand. The "traditional" way hurts like hell, and it is through this process that people demonstrate their commitment, courage, strength, and endurance. |
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Because getting horimono pretty much earns you pariah status in Japan, it's a dying art. There are very few masters left. One of Japan's current masters, Horiyoshi III, has traveled extensively, bringing international exposure to his art. After talking with a German artist studying at his studio, I started thinking very seriously about getting a set of sleeves or even a full back piece. I wasn't sure if I'd regret that kind of lifetime commitment, and wondered if I'd still think it was cool to be wearing an evening gown fully decked out in tattoos when I'm 40, or 50 (then I started to wonder about whether I'd still be wearing sexy clothes at 50 and got a bit depressed.) I also thought about what my mother would say, and in the end settled on a simpler, smaller design that didn't cover my whole body.
Though the pain seethed through me like bolts of lightning, it was an enjoyable experience. I didn't leave with a traditional Japanese tattoo as was my initial plan, but I'm very happy with what I got, and compared to other tattoos I have, the work is outstanding. |
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Horiyoshi III works out of Yokohama, and there is a whole family of artists, including his ushi deshi working under him. There may also be Horiyoshi I and II studios in Tokyo. Most of the illustrated books I saw in Canada about Japanese tattoos feature the work of Horiyoshi II.
If you're able to make the commitment, I sincerely recommend it. Full body tattoos are hot. |
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