The Vow Tattoo

By : KHISOBORI

The term, irebokuro means tattoo, and was used in the Edo period. Ire or ireru, means to insert, and bokuro or hokuro is a beauty spot. In the early Edo period, tattoo was like a dot, not pictorial yet.Irebokuro originated among the yujos, or legal prostitutes. The custom of irebokuro probably parallels the establishment of legal prostitution (Tamabayashi, 1956).According to Tamabayashi (1956), the major group of people who accepted irebokuro was the yujos, and the second was the geishas. Tattooing was rare among ordinary girls. On the other hand, in the case of the male population, the majority was the yujo or the geisha's clients or womanizers. Tattooed priests and youngsters were sometimes seen.

Tamabayashi (1956) describes one of the old patterns of irebokuro: a man and a woman hold their hands together, and get a mole-like tattoo on each hand where the tip of the thumb reached. Irebokuro was a reminder for lovers, and showed a vow of eternal love. It is said that some yujos wore tattoos of their lover's name and the Japanese character for life (inochi). It symbolized the strength of their pledge of love. Tamabayashi also mentions irebokuro in homosexuality between priests and young boys. These tattoos were also called kishobori, the vow tattoo.The yujos were likely to choose to be tattooed on the arm, especially the inside of the arm and near the armpit, not the forearm (Tamabayashi, 1956). Their tattoos probably meant secret affairs, forbidden love or personal desires. The purpose of the yujo's tattoos was one of serious promise, or nuptial proof, or eternal love, and the pledge of the heart and soul towards sincere love (Tamabayashi, 1956:24).For others, the irebokuro was perhaps just a tool to please and keep their customers, and thus to succeed as a highest ranked courtesan.

The geishas and the yujos made up strange customs to keep their clients. Several authors (Fujimoto; 1915, Tamabayashi; 1956, Seigle; 1993, Van Gulik; 1982) cite examples of the geisha's behavior.

1. A woman gave a written pledge to her lover.
2. She tattooed the lover's name in her arm.
3. She cut her hair.
4. She cut her little finger.
5. She tore off the nail of one of her fingers.
6. She stabbed her elbow or thigh (Fujimoto, 1915: 129).

In the literature of the Edo period, the practice of the pledge letter, tattooing, finger-cutting, hair-cutting, nail-tearing are often described (Seigle; 1993, Tamabayashi; 1956, Van Gulik; 1982). The purpose of the pledge letter was to get a few drops of blood from both the man and the woman (Seigle, 1993).Tattooing was similar to the pledge letter. Many yujos and geishas tattooed themselves to please their customers.

However, tattooing was considered inelegant and indiscreet among high-ranking geisha, and they tended to avoid it (Seigle, 1993). Some customers insisted on it and the geisha were forced to submit. At the same time, they had to know how to erase tattoos. The courtesans cauterized tattoos with moxa (dried herb) and fire (Seigle; 1993, Tamabayashi; 1956,Van Gulik; 1982). The tattoo could be the cause of trouble if the courtesans had several different customers. There are records of the yujos and the geishas repeatedly having to tattoo over or remove old tattoos whenever their customers changed.Finger and hair-cutting, and nail-tearing were more serious tokens than tattooing one's name because they were obviously visible. The extreme form of love was shinju, double suicide. Many lovers committed double suicides, and this phenomenon peaked from the Genroku era (1688-1703) to 1720's (Seigle, 1993). By the late Tokugawa era, kishobori was no longer popular.