Insight into the practice of Horiyoshi III
Joy Hendry, a professor with a focus in social anthropology, did research on Japanese tattoos and interviewed Horiyoshi III, a Japanese tattoo artist, and observed his records of his clients. According to Hendry, Horiyoshi III had completed 20 full-body tattoos on people of whom he met with at least two or three times a year, after the tattoo was completed, as a reunion. Through interviewing Horiyosi III, Hendry learned that the process of designing and tattooing a full-body tattoo takes 150 to 200 hours of work which is split up to two hours of work per week. In total the entire tattoo costs around 2 million yen (in 1991), which is equivalent to about 20,000 U.S. dollars. Since tattooing is such a complicated and process, Horiyoshi III's customers have to make a request to be tattooed and if they seem serious enough, he will talk to them about design. For influence in his designs, Horiyoshi III uses books of illustrations from well-known stories and legends, and considers sketches and flower designs for the edges of the tattoos. While Hendry was observing Horiyoshi III's practice, she observed a female dump-truck driver getting her first outline of a Kannon on her back, the fifth session of a man with a large tiger on his back, and another person was getting a continuation of the coloring of nine carp fish swimming on his torso (Hendry 27-28). The carp fish tattoo is especially intriguing because the fish appear to be swimming with the movement of the body.
Like I have done with interviewing Stanford students, Hendry was able to do a similar work by reviewing Horiyoshi III's customer's records that included names, ages, occupations, and details such as their motivation, and reasons for choosing particular designs. She was surprised when she noticed that most of those that went to Horiyoshi III for tattoos were young in their late teens or early twenties. Hendry concluded that the full-body horimono was by no means a dying art. When she observed the occupations of the clients, she found that most were part of the yakuza, the Japanese mafia, while others were carpenters, drivers, construction workers, and "hostesses" (Hendry 28). In terms of motivations, Hendry tells us that their reason were, in her terms, "playful" (28). Clients typically got tattoos for reasons such as that they thought tattoos looked 'cool' or 'cute,' because they liked them, they think they are artistic, for personal adornment, and only a few were for following family resemblance or for representing religious beliefs (28). Another motivation, as pointed out by Horiyoshi III, was that tattoos had the ability of "strengthening one's psychological or spiritual outlook" (Hendry 28). The motivation of the yakuza is the most interesting in that they use horimono for protection in prison. When they know that they are likely to be put in prison, they often try to speed the artist through the tattoo so that when they arrive in prison, other prisoners will admire them, and the guards will look after them because they don't want the tattoos to be harmed (Hendry 28). In terms of the designs chosen by the clients, most of the designs featured central figures that represent or display qualities that are highly respected in certain areas of Japanese society. Dragon tattoos, for instance, were desirable to firefighters during the nineteenth century because not only did the bring strength, wisdom, and bravery, they also combined the fire and water elements and offered protection because dragons are commonly thought of as courageous beings in light of danger.
Like I have done with interviewing Stanford students, Hendry was able to do a similar work by reviewing Horiyoshi III's customer's records that included names, ages, occupations, and details such as their motivation, and reasons for choosing particular designs. She was surprised when she noticed that most of those that went to Horiyoshi III for tattoos were young in their late teens or early twenties. Hendry concluded that the full-body horimono was by no means a dying art. When she observed the occupations of the clients, she found that most were part of the yakuza, the Japanese mafia, while others were carpenters, drivers, construction workers, and "hostesses" (Hendry 28). In terms of motivations, Hendry tells us that their reason were, in her terms, "playful" (28). Clients typically got tattoos for reasons such as that they thought tattoos looked 'cool' or 'cute,' because they liked them, they think they are artistic, for personal adornment, and only a few were for following family resemblance or for representing religious beliefs (28). Another motivation, as pointed out by Horiyoshi III, was that tattoos had the ability of "strengthening one's psychological or spiritual outlook" (Hendry 28). The motivation of the yakuza is the most interesting in that they use horimono for protection in prison. When they know that they are likely to be put in prison, they often try to speed the artist through the tattoo so that when they arrive in prison, other prisoners will admire them, and the guards will look after them because they don't want the tattoos to be harmed (Hendry 28). In terms of the designs chosen by the clients, most of the designs featured central figures that represent or display qualities that are highly respected in certain areas of Japanese society. Dragon tattoos, for instance, were desirable to firefighters during the nineteenth century because not only did the bring strength, wisdom, and bravery, they also combined the fire and water elements and offered protection because dragons are commonly thought of as courageous beings in light of danger.