Japanese Tattoo Symbols
Japanese Tattoo Symbols are particularly intriguing. Japanese tattoos have a long history, going back to at least 5000 BC where clay figurines from this time were found with their faces marked with tattoos. Historians believe the tattoos had significant religious meaning. Much later Chinese writers recorded in awe 297 AD that the Japanese “men young and old, all tattoo their faces and decorate their bodies with designs.”
The custom of tattooing in Japan fell out of favour by 700 A.D., whence it adopted the Chinese tradition and became a form of punishment for criminals and ostracism. The tattoo was also popular with ronin, or samarai without masters, who some believe are the original roots of the Japanese yakuza, or organized crime.
Tattoos had a resurgence in Japan in the late eighteenth century, when people in Japan looked back at their won history and folklore. Popular artwork included dragons, Chinese lions, giant snakes, the Buddha, Fujin & Raijin (the gods of wind and lightening), Fudomyo (the Japanese god of fire), and Kannon, the goddess of mercy. Tattoo conventions have been going on in japan for over 15o years - even though it was still frowned upon by the government until 1948, when it was no longer forbidden. Even today there is still stigma in Japan so tattoos are mostly hidden.
Japanese designs are revered for their use of colour, and bold strong lines and energy in the movement of their symbols.
There are lots of Japanese Tattoo symbols at Tattoo me now.
photo credit: eyeliam
photo credit: angler70
