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Irezumi (入れ墨, lit. ' inserting ink ') (also spelled 入墨 or sometimes 刺青) is the Japanese word for tattoo, and is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing, though it is also used as a blanket term to describe a number of tattoo styles originating in Japan, including tattooing traditions from both the Ainu people and the Ryukyuan Kingdom.
A form of committing is by embracing tattoos which make them identifiable within the gang and to the public. [12] The Yakuza's tattoos would cover large areas of the body. The tattoos could cover arms, chest, back, and legs, but may not be visible when wearing traditional Japanese garments, such as a kimono, due to the specific placement.
This eventually led to the modern yakuza tradition of full-body tattooing. [1] [4] Bakuto were also responsible for introducing the tradition of yubitsume, or self-mutilation as a form of apology, to yakuza culture. [3] [4] [5] Up until the mid-20th century, some yakuza organizations that dealt mostly in gambling described themselves as bakuto ...
Between 1964 and 1965, the Japanese police carried out mass arrests of yakuza leaders and executives in what they called the Daiichiji chōjō sakusen (第一次頂上作戦, First Operation Summit) in response to public demands for the yakuza to be banished from society. As a result, crime declined and the number of arrested yakuza fell from ...
Nakano was inspired when he saw a Yakuza (Japanese gangster) with a full-body tattoo in a public bathhouse when he was a young boy, "about eleven or twelve." [3] This inspired him to visit legendary tattoo artist Yoshitsugu Muramatsu, also known as Shodai Horiyoshi of Yokohama. [4]
These people had no place in "decent society" and were frowned upon. They could not simply integrate into mainstream society because of their obvious visible tattoos, forcing many of them into criminal activities which ultimately formed the roots for the modern Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, with which tattoos have become almost synonymous in Japan.
Yakuza, or Japanese mafia, are not allowed to show their tattoos in public except during the Sanja Matsuri festival. Yakuza are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. They are notorious for their strict codes of conduct and very organized nature. As of 2009 they had an estimated 80,900 members. [19]
The Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi (六代目山口組, Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi, Japanese: [ɾokɯdaime jamaɡɯt͡ɕi ɡɯmi]) is Japan's largest yakuza organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. [4]