History of
Tattooing in Japan

          The people in Nihon (the old name for Japan), believed that these tattoo patterns worked as amulets, were decorative, and said something about the person who has the pattern. According to Taku Oshima, a tattoo artist specializing in tattoos of the Jōmon Period,  “archaeological evidence suggests the Jōmon people keenly embraced body modification. Including dental transfiguration and piercing as a form of expression” (Martin, 2019), and continues that the traditional pattern slowly turned into the form of a tattoo. The women of Ainu, the tribe in Hokkaido during the Jōmon Period, would get tattoos around their mouths and their hands. Getting a hand tattoo before planned marriage had a powerful meaning behind it, as the woman tolerating the pain from the tattoo proves her strength, and therefore will most likely tolerate the marriage and the in-laws. Young girls of the Ainu tribe received their first tattoo at the age of 10 and continued with the tradition up until the age of maturity and marriage. The tradition of getting the tattoos were very predominant and a cherished part of the culture in the Ainu tribe. So, in 1799 when the government took action and tried to stop people of the Ainu tribe from getting tattoos, they refused to follow the laws and carried on with their beliefs. Eventually the law was abolished and the Ainu tribe were able to continue their tradition.