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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 pair of komainu, the "a" on the right, the "um" on the left. Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Horimono can also refer to the practice of traditional tattooing in Japanese culture; while irezumi usually refers to any tattooing (and often has negative connotations in Japan), "horimono" is usually used to describe full-body tattoos done in the traditional style. [2]
The famous torii at Itsukushima Shrine. A torii (Japanese: 鳥居, ) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, [1] and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through.
The Japanese word irezumi means "insertion of ink" and can mean tattoos using tebori, the traditional Japanese hand method, a Western-style machine or any method of tattooing using insertion of ink. The most common word used for traditional Japanese tattoo designs is horimono. [8]
A study-dedicated omamori.The logo above denotes a Shinto shrine dedicated to the kami Tenjin.. Omamori (御守/お守り) are Japanese amulets commonly sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, dedicated to particular Shinto kami as well as Buddhist figures and are said to provide various forms of luck and protection.
Tomoe (巴, also written 鞆絵), [a] commonly translated as "comma", [2] [3] is a comma-like swirl symbol used in Japanese mon (roughly equivalent to a heraldic badge or charge in European heraldry). It closely resembles the usual form of a magatama. The tomoe appears in many designs with various uses.
Omamori, another kind of Japanese talisman, shares the same origin as and may be considered as a smaller and portable version of ofuda. A specific type of ofuda is a talisman issued by a Shinto shrine on which is written the name of the shrine or its enshrined kami and stamped with the shrine's seal.