Irezumi
Irezumi (入れ墨, lit. "inserting ink") (also spelled 入墨 or sometimes 刺青) is the Japanese word for tattoo, and is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing, though it is also used as a blanket term to describe a number of tattoo styles originating in Japan, including tattooing traditions from both the Ainu people and the Ryukyuan Kingdom.
All forms of irezumi are applied by hand, using wooden handles and metal needles attached via silk thread. This method also requires special ink known as Nara ink (also called zumi); tattooing practiced by both the Ainu people and the Ryukyuan people uses ink derived from the indigo plant. Irezumi is a painful and time-consuming process, practiced by a limited number of specialists known as horishi. Horishi typically have one or more apprentices working for them, whose apprenticeship can last for a long time period; historically, horishi were admired as figures of bravery and roguish sex appeal.
At the beginning of the Meiji period, the Japanese government outlawed tattoos, and irezumi took on connotations of criminality and delinquency as a result, leading to considerable stigma against people with tattoos and tattooing in modern-day Japan.
Thirty
- 2017-09-29T00:00:00.000000Z
Endurance
- 2017-06-16T00:00:00.000000Z
Broken
- 2018-05-11T00:00:00.000000Z
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