Irezumi – Japanese Tattoo The Japanese word irezumi (???, ??, ??, ??, ? or ??) refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark, in other words, tattooing. The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese characters ??? or ??, literally meaning to "insert ink." The characters ?? (also pronounced bunshin) suggest "decorating the body." ?? is more esoteric, being written with the characters for "stay" or "remain" and "blue" or "green," and probably refers to the appearance of the main shading ink under the skin. ? (meaning "tattooing") is rarely used, and the characters ?? combine the meanings "pierce," "stab," or "prick," and "blue" or "green," referring to the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand. Tattooing for spiritual and decorative purposes in Japan is thought to extend back to at least the Jomon or paleolithic period (approximately 10000 BCE). Some scholars have suggested that the distinctive cord-marked patterns observed on the faces and bodies of figures dated to that period represent tattoos, but this claim is by no means unanimous. There are similarities, however, between such markings and the tattoo traditions observed in other contemporaneous cultures. In the following Yayoi period (C. 300BCE - 300CE) tattoo designs were observed and remarked upon by Chinese visitors. Such designs were thought to have spiritual significance as well as functioning as a status symbol. Starting in the Kofun period (300-600CE) tattoos began to assume negative connotations. Instead of being used for ritual or status purposes, tattooed marks began to be placed on criminals as a punishment (this was mirrored in ancient Rome, where slaves were known to have been tattooed with mottos such as "I am a slave who has run away from his master"). The Ainu people, the indigenous people of Japan, are known to have used tattoos for decorative and social purposes. It is generally agreed, however, that the Ainu tattoo tradition is unrelated to the development of irezumi. Until the Edo period (1600-1868CE) the role of tattoos in Japanese society fluctuated. Tattooed marks were still used as punishment, but minor fads for decorative tattoos -- some featuring designs that would be completed only when lovers' hands were joined -- also came and went. It was in the Edo period, however, that Japanese decorative tattooing began to develop into the advanced art form it is known as today. The impetus for the development of the art were the development of the art of woodblock printing and the release of the popular Chinese novel Suikoden, a tale of rebel courage and manly bravery illustrated with lavish woodblock prints showing men in heroic scenes, their bodies decorated with dragons and other mythical beasts, flowers, ferocious tigers and religious images. The novel was an immediate success, and demand for the type of tattoos seen in its illustrations was simultaneous. Woodblock artists began tattooing. They used many of the same tools for imprinting designs in human flesh as they did to create their woodblock prints, including chisels, gouges and, most importantly, unique ink known as Nara ink, or Nara black, the ink that famously turns blue-green under the skin. There is academic debate over who wore these elaborate tattoos. Some scholars say that it was the lower classes who wore -- and flaunted -- such tattoos. Others claim that wealthy merchants, barred by law from flaunting their wealth, wore expensive irezumi under their clothes. It is known for certain that irezumi became associated with firemen, dashing figures of bravery and roguish sex-appeal who wore them as a form of spiritual protection (and, no doubt, for their beauty as well).