| The story below is originally published on Mainichi Daily News by Mainichi Shinbun (http://mdn.mainichi.jp). |
| They admitted inventing its kinky features, or rather deliberately mistranslating them from the original gossip magazine. |
| In fact, this is far from the general Japanese' behavior or sense of worth. |
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By Ryann Connell Staff Writer
Irezumi, the elaborate Japanese form of body marking that have been a yakuza trademark for centuries, have recently picked up a growing number of fans among the country's young, according to Shukan Tokuho (9/8).
Pools, public bathhouses and hot springs resorts have traditionally banned entry to those with irezumi because of their underworld connection, but many of these places have had to have a re-think with so many of their "respectable" customers adorning their bodies with the detailed and colorful markings.
And while Western-style tattoos are as trendy among Osaka or Tokyo teens as they are anywhere else in the world, loads of young Japanese are apparently undergoing the agonizing process under the needle to give them a look more reflective of their Yamato roots.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with Western tattoos.
Tattooing is a matter of each to his own and there's absolutely nothing wrong with the idea of Western tattoos being seen as fashionable among young people.
It's just that I like traditionally Japanese irezumi," Horihito , one of Tokyo's top traditional Japanesestyle tattoo artists, tells Shukan Tokuho.
"I think Japanese irezumi are the world's most beautiful tattoos.
Of course, once you've got one on your body, it's around for as long as you are."
Kumamoto Prefecture-native Horihito, whose name can also be translated to mean "tatooist," arrived in Tokyo 20 years ago after having taught himself to become a tattoo artist.
For the past 15 years, he has run a tattoo studio in gritty Kawasaki.
His operation has become so popular, he has a three week waiting list and employees a number of apprentices, including his own teen-age son.
Among the tattoo artist's customers are people from all walks of life, including the yakuza, young people in their 20s and early 20s, white collar workers, female office workers, teachers and doctors, he says.
Horihito also boasts of having performed his work on many celebrities, the most notable of whom is probably Kyuzo, a member of the Tokyo Shock Boys, a group of entertainers that rose to infamy through such antics as exploding firecrackers in their bottoms and using their male members to lift weights.
Horihito says that average 20-something women have been his most stable source of customers recently, adding that they generally cope with the excruciating pain of having their entire back tattooed better than many young men, including so-called "toughs" from Japan's criminal element.
'Women are generally said to bear pain better than guys, but, based on my experiences, I've found that a lot of women enjoy pain rather than tough it out.
Some women try to seduce you while you're tattooing them.
Of course, when you're putting your heart and soul into a job, you've naturally got to turn them down," he tells Shukan Tokuho.
"I've heard of an artist who was working on a woman when she went after him and he accepted the offer.
It was real intense, apparently.
She was yelping like some sort of animal and kept begging for him to repeat his performance.
He didn't get much work done that day."
August 25, 2003
