Tattoos in Japan, late 19th century

Very unusual colors and patterns. I was always fascinated by large tattoos, complex drawings. I will never dare to make even a small one for myself.



There are two reasons for the appearance of full-body tattoos in Japan: the existence of sumie, black and white ink drawings, and the appearance of fashion in clothing. Before the appearance of Yukie-e drawings, ink painting technique was brought to Japan from China. At the beginning of the period of artistic tattoos, only the outline of the drawing was applied. These tattoos were called suzumori, contour tattoo. Used only a few colors for application: black ink, bright red and brown.
The idea of tattoos all over the body came from the samurai, or rather their clothing – jinbaori - military tunic without sleeves. On the back side jinbaori samurai did your favorite patterns, most often on the heroic theme that would show your courage and pride. Some of these drawings portray the defenders of the gods or dragons.
The peculiarity of the Japanese tattoo is not only in the original technique and carefully preserved traditions, but also in amazing and exotic images for the European eye. At the time, it was the unusual nature of these images in conjunction with the high skill of tattooing that allowed the Japanese tattoo to capture the minds of European citizens. So it was mysterious and much more virtuoso than what was done in Europe at that time.