Tattoos in Japan still have strict laws that prohibit them, but there are still people in certain parts of the world who have tattoos, especially yakuza (people operating in the underworld).
There was a time when the number of yakuza reached 90,000 members, divided into about 3,000 different gangs and operating all over Japan.
Even during World War II, the number of yakuza at one point exceeded 184,000 and outnumbered the Japanese army at that time.
Anyone who wants to join the world of yakuza in Japan is required to get a tattoo to prove their loyalty, even women can’t do otherwise.
Like male yakuza, female yakuza do not have any difference in tattooing traditional Irezumi style tattoos (tattooing method appeared in this country from 10,000 years BC).
Ordinary yakuza tattoos are only visible when you are completely naked, once you wear a T-shirt or kimono, the tattoos are completely covered.
In particular, women who accept tattoos are often mothers, wives, and daughters in yakuza families. The tattoos used by women from the yakuza world are mostly related to cherry blossoms and goddesses in ancient Japanese books.
They help them somewhat retain their inherent softness, flexibility and femininity.
However, to get such tattoos, Japanese women have to go through a rather painful process of inking. Because of the characteristic of yakuza tattoo art, the artists respect and adhere to the tattoo position on the body.
Instead of using tattoo machines like today, the artists still tattoo in the traditional style by using metal brushes to carve straight on the body. Therefore, these women also have strong and fierce personalities. no less than any man.
Shoko Tendo is one of the most famous female yakuza in Japan.
One of the most famous women in the yakuza world in Japan must be mentioned is Shoko Tendo, the daughter of a notorious boss in the country’s gangsters and also the author of Yakuza Moon: Memories of a Gangster’s Daughter. The book describes the chaotic life of Shoko Tendo herself, filled with MT, TD and especially her body covered with tattoos.
When she was 6 years old, she witnessed her father punish a subordinate under the yakuza underground law, forcing him to “execute” his little finger himself to atone. She hid behind her mother and vowed never to forget.
Tendo’s childhood, instead of having fun with friends, had to endure a lot of turbulence and alienation from friends because his father was a yakuza boss.
Tendo said that she had been paired with some bosses, played MT and had been hacked many times before joining a gang that was not her family.
It was also she who later described that the real life in yakuza families as well as the relationships between yakuza are complicated, scary and full of injustice. Currently, Tendo has left the underworld to focus on raising her daughter and writing books.
In fact, the art of tattooing in Japan today has been and is being loved by many women in this country and considers this as a way of expressing love for beauty, and not every woman who has a tattoo is a beauty. yakuza.
