The Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Era (1868-1912) to the Present

The Meiji Restoration (1868) marked the beginning of modernization in Japan. The feudal system was abolished, and Japan absorbed Western culture to cultivate new attitudes and thoughts. The first principles, the Five Articles Oath, had been already enunciated in April, 1868. Morton (1994) states: "Article 4. Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of Nature" (p.150). He describes "evil customs of the past" as including the Tokugawa shogunate and all its works and that the "just law of Nature" is a universal phrase.

This concept was familiar in the West but was also known to the East in fundamental Confucian and Taoist thought (Morton, 1994: 150). Adoption of the new western clothing drastically changed Japan's daily landscape. Frock coats and bowler hats for men, corseted waists and bustles for women became fashionable - they proclaimed their wearers a new breed of Japanese, persons fully the equal of Europeans and Americans (Dalby, 1993: 9-10).

Japan's goal was to become a member of the leading nations as a civilized and sophisticated country. The government regarded tattooing as a sign of barbarism, and in 1872, prohibited all tattooing, including the tribal tattooing by the Ainu and the Ryukyu.

The influence of the ban on tattooing spread to literature. Tanizaki Junichiro, one of the famous novelists in modern period, published a book titled Shisei (Tattooer),in 1910. It is the story of a young tattoo master and a beautiful girl. Tanizaki's work was originally conceived in a contemporary setting, but later placed in the Edo period (McCallum, 1988: 134).There was perhaps social pressure in those days.

Ironically, the prohibition of tattooing applied only to the Japanese, not to foreign people. Many visitors from overseas were impressed by Japanese tattoo designs. Sailors, from the highest to the lowest ranks, got tattooed when they arrived in Japanese ports.Burchett (1958) tells about meeting one Japanese tattoo master, Hori Chyo in the Meiji era. According to Burchett (1958), Hori Chyo had tattooed many British aristocrats, including the Duke of Clarence, the Duke of York (later, King George V), and the Czarevitch of Russia (later, Czar Nicholas II). As a result, Japanese tattoos were exported to oversea countries, and gained a reputation outside of Japan. Nakano (199?) cites newspaper articles regarding popularity of Japanese tattoos in the West.

In 1948, the prohibition of tattooing was lifted. However, tattooing was outlawed among youths below the age of18 in a bid to protect minors, and those who encouraged minors to get tattooed were penalized (Nakano, 199?).

Because of its historical background, the practice of tattooing retains a negative and dark image in Japan today. Some tattooists do not have signs for their studios even though tattooing is now legal.

Nakano (1988) reveals how tattooing is viewed in Japanese society. A sumo wrestler, while wrestling,covered his tattoos on his left arm, and a professional boxer, Mike Tyson, hid his tattoo to appear in a Japanese commercial (Nakano, 1988).

Nakano (1988) herself is the wife of a tattoo master, and her body is covered with tattoos. She says that people are scared of her tattoos after discovering them on her body. Of course, she does not mean to scare them.That is a typical reaction towards the full body tattoo in Japan.