Tattoo History

Ainu

The Ainu (pronounced "eye-nu") 

"Ainu" means "human." The Ainu people regard things useful to them or beyond their control as "kamuy"(gods). In daily life, they prayed to and performed various ceremonies for the gods. These gods include : "nature" gods, such as of fire, water, wind and thunder ; "animal" gods, such as of bears, foxes, spotted owls and gram-puses ; "plant" gods, such as of aconite, mush-room and mugwort ; "object" gods, such as of boats and pots ; and gods which protect houses, gods of mountains and gods of lakes. The word "Ainu" refers to the opposite of these gods.

The Ainu, along with the Okinawa-based Ryukyu, are an indigenous population of Japan. Ainu lived
in Hokkaido, the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin, but now largely live in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island. As of the last census Ainu populations in Hokkaido were roughly 23,000 people.

In traditional Ainu culture when a woman begins to come of age at 12-13 she begins a heavy tattooing process of her lips, legs, hands and arms. When this process has been completed somewhere around the age of 15-16 she is considered ready for marriage. Ainu culture held tattooed women to be beautiful. As Helena Burton notes on the meanings of the tattoos:

Irezumi

Irezumi is one Japanese word for tattoo. In Japan the verb ireru (入れる) is used for tattoo insertion (ie: "I am getting a tattoo"), literally meaning 'to insert.' sumi completes this word, meaning 'black ink.'

                                                                   

In Japan when discussing tattoos irezumi refers to traditional style Japanese tattoos. Especially popular in broader Japanese popular culture as well as a abroad, this term gives little distinction to method of insertion. The term horimono is preferred by practicitioners, especially those working with tebori methods of tattoo insertion. Simply speaking, this may be that because irezumi is a descriptive noun referencing a crude terminology for what a tattoo is,horimono directly references tattooing as an art form.

Horimono

Horimono (彫り物, 彫物) is the term used for traditional Japanese tattoos.
From the Japanese horu 'to carve, engrave or inscribe' and mono, 'thing'.

Executed with tebori, the Japanese tattoo artist uses traditional motifs such as peony flowers, dragons or unique ukiyo-e style human figures to create a tattoo that renders the whole body as a single, symbolic work. Horimono tattoos are also unmistakable by their gaku, literally 'frame', of waves, water or wind swirls surrounding the centre of the tattoo, which gives the horimono its 'suit' appearance.

Horimono are also known variously in literature or speech as irezumi, bunshin, shisei, gaman or hokuro. Although many Westerners and Japanese use irezumi to refer to traditional Japanese tattoos, this is technically incorrect since irezumi is a cruder term based on method. As the term horimono references the art form involved in creating such a tattoo, Japanese tattoo artists and those tattooed generally use the word horimono.

Due in part to the origins of tattoo culture in Japan, its association with geishin (penal tattooing), bakuto groups as well as present day criminal cultures, most notably the Yakuza, tattoos are still a strong social taboo in Japanese culture. Sadly part of this tradition of taboo is also due to discriminatory practices against the Ainu whose women wore large facial tattoos and the Hinin and Burakumin who were given tattoos to brand their caste. Wearers of tattoos may be refused service at onsen (bath houses), hotels, sex clubs and even bars. Part of this practice stems from wanting to avoid trouble with gangs and violent youth, but much more of the prohibition rests on perceived social opinions of difference in Japan and not wanting to make other guests uncomfortable. So even if you are gaijin (foreign) and tattooed you may still be denied entrance despite the obvious lack of Yakuza connection.