Horimono style tattooing is banned and prosecuted

Prior to the Meiji era (1868-1912), ornamental tattooing, including the horimonowas a very visible cultural trait in Japan. However, during the reign of Emperor Meiji Tennō the country underwent a phase of modernization and westernization.  

Then the Meiji civilization campaign considers the horimono as a sign of barbarism especially in the eyes of foreigners. Legislation became stricter in 1872 and tattoos in this style were prohibited until 1948..

 It should be noted that other more discreet tattooing practices such as the kishobori and the irebokuro are not officially prohibited. 

The restrictive laws are intended to prevent the practice of the horimonoThe fact that it is too conspicuous, refuses to disappear from public spaces and evokes deep contradictions in the structure of society. It is clear that this tattooing style already has great symbolic power and is seen as a silent form of subversion.. 

The prohibition does not totally prevent the practice ofwhich was then exclusively male. The clandestinity makes the tattoo artists begin to make pieces that can be used by men.  hidden with the costumes, avoiding tattooing hands, feet, necks and face. And it gives the horimono a certain charm that it did not have before, of peculiar and secret beauty. Likewise, facilitates the appropriation of this style of tattooing by the yakuzaThis has generated a stigma that persists to this day. 

Photo https://www.pinterest.es/pin/441352832240118949/

Caption: 19th century Japanese man with tattooed body. Author unknown (1880-1890)

Bibliography

• Pinheiro Maués, Juliana (2019): Bravos citadinos: estudio das representações da tatuagem em estampas de ator do kabuki de Utagawa Kunisada. Repository of Unicamp's scientific and intellectual production.
• https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horimono_(tatuaje)#Tatuaje_penal_o_irezumi
• Moriarty, Yori. (2015) : Irezumi Itai. Traditional Japanese Tattoo. Gijón, Satori Ediciones.