Tattoo: Update #2

I am almost finished with my final paper but, sadly, it won't be finished until sometime this weekend due to the amount of work and papers I have to complete. So I'll just get into the current update of my project: (I hope you don't mind my copying and minor modifying of the previous post): I first start out by discussing the different influences of tattoos - wabori (Japanese) and youbori (Western). Within the wabori section, I broke it down irezumi, munawari, and kishobori. I also included a paragraph on how the traditional tattoo master inserts the ink. I then moved onto the youbori tattoos. After I described all those, I briefly mentioned the thoughts of Japanese people according to a study I had found conducted in Canada. I did take notice of how it's not completely accurate because it was conducted with few people. After that, I had talked about the history of tattoos in Japanese culture. Next, I talked about the different tattooed people - which I had divided into three groups. Those groups are Ainu people, yakuza, and non-yakuza people. In the non-yakuza people category, I included everyday people, celebrities, and perhaps the tattoo master themselves. Within the categories, I discussed the thoughts of the tattooed people and those those around based off the interviews and articles I had read. I still have to write about the symbolism of the tattoos themselves - so the meaning behind the background print, the character they chose, and the detailing (such as flowers). Would this be more appropriate in the first section where I discuss the different tattoo styles or after the people? I am also thinking about including videos but keeping it short and figuring out which would be the most beneficial. Thank you for taking your time to read this. I truly appreciate any and all input. ^_^

Tattoos: the Update

As I have been working on my project thus so far, I'm about 2,000 out of the 2,400 to 3,000 words in. Here is my progress as of now:

I first start out by discussing the different types of tattoos - wabori (Japanese) and youbori (Western). Within the wabori section, I broke it down irezumi, munawari, and kishobori. After I described all those, I briefly mentioned the thoughts of Japanese people according to a study I had found conducted in Canada. I did take notice of how it's not completely accurate because it was conducted with few people. After that, I had talked about the history of tattoos in Japanese culture. Next, I talked about the different tattooed people - which I had divided into three groups. Those groups are Ainu people, yakuza, and "ordinary" people. In the "ordinary" people category, I am including everyday people, celebrities... basically anyone who is not an Ainu or yakuza. I have not completed writing the yakuza or "ordinary" people categories yet. From there, I am planning to write about how the tattooed people feel about tattoos in Canada and in Japan.

This is what I have planning and have been doing. One thing that I am curious about is if I should recall the "ordinary" people to "non-yakuza?"

Here are my sources as of now (I will be including more or fixing some of the sources):
Donald Richie, "The Japanese Tattoo"
Meiko Yamada, “Meaning of Tattoos in the Context of Identity-Construction: A Study of Japanese Students in Canada”
Meiko Yamada, “Japanese Tattooing from the Past to the Present” http://www.tattoos.com/mieko.htm (2000)
http://www.ehow.com/info_10043392_tebori-tattoo-technique.html
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/07/31/lip-tattooing-is-the-latest-fad/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jun/27/books.japan
http://inventorspot.com/articles/art_yakuza_japans_tattooed_men_w_6920
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattooing_among_japans_ainu.htm
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_museum/chinese_japanese_tattoos.html
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20110315zg.html
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia/Daisetsuzan
http://kotaku.com/5488997/in-japan-getting-a-tattoo-means-you-can-never-go-home
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fs20080826a3.html

I have plenty of pictures to examine or that goes along with the text. As for videos, I am still examining a few videos (such as the one in the previous post).

Just a preview of what's to come...














Please let me know what you think. ^^

Move Aside LA Ink, Japan is Taking Over

Okay, so maybe taking over isn't the exact phrase to use. However, the Japanese do have a huge influence in the world of tattoos, yes, tattoos. (And you only thought Japan was cute, right?) My project is focusing on tattoos in Japanese society. I will be looking at the history of tattoos in Japan, how they changed society, how people react to tattoo. Some people that I will focus on would be the Ainu people, the yakuza, and average people.

Oh look here, a video... let's watch!


That was just to give you a tiny idea of what you'll have to look forward to hearing. The reason why I chose this project was my interest in body modification (and with Mizenko's help of thinking of different ideas that we wouldn't discuss in great detail during class).

One thing that I feel uncertain about is the lack of articles that Google Scholar would give me the full version of. So far, most of the articles that seem to have detailed information are only available in the abstract form.

(I appreciated any advice that you could offer me that could improve or take my research on a different path. Thank you ^_^)

Here are some links to websites that I think I will be looking at:
http://www.tattoos.com/mieko.htm
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_museum/chinese_japanese_tattoos.html
http://inventorspot.com/articles/art_yakuza_japans_tattooed_men_w_6920
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html
http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2010/04/09/todays_pic_traditional_japanes/
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/ng-investigates/crime-lords-of-tokyo-facts/
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/ng-investigates/crime-lords-of-tokyo-pictures/
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/shows/ng-investigates/ngc-marked-for-life/

Who Am I?

Akane Koide - Wrist Slit

I will not lie, I was attracted to this painting by Akane Koide (artist at age 15) from the moment I saw it. As some may know, I have a fascination of stories that involve a struggle situated in a "real life" setting. Yes, the blood may seem a bit like much, but I'll get to that later on.
Okay... time to actually analyze this! When looking at this painting for the first time, the thing that caught my attention was the girl in the background (and surprisingly not the huge eyeball, go figure). This girl (which I'm going to call Girl B), though she is not the the main focus, had something about her that caught my attention. That something was the look on her face; from a distance/normal view, she looks frightened and concern, perhaps even worried for the main girl in the painting. However, when I had zoomed in on her, I had noticed that her eyes are looking straight at the audience. Could it be that she knows what is going on and maybe looking over it? As she is walking, she placed her hand up against the glass, presumably making a noise, forcing the main girl (Girl A) to turn around and look at her. They are both wearing similar uniforms, signifying that they are still in school. Girl B seems more conservative in the way she dressed compared to Girl A; skirt seems longer and she's wearing a cardigan which covers her up more than the short skirt (revealing some of Girl A's underwear) and opened blouse. Now, let's focus on Girl A. She has two eyes showing, one in the back of her head looking at the audience and one in its normal location also looking at the audience with narrow eyes. The normal eye, to me at least, show her displeasure and dislike towards the audience. It is also as though we were interrupting something and that is her way of telling us.
Let's move away from the girls and their clothing and looks and focus on (basically) everything else. I'm going to start at the front and work my way to the back. In the front, we notice the bandages on the Girl A's wrist - they are loose and undone. Probably used that razor in her hand to cut the bandages along with herself. Notice the new cut that she had created, it's longer than the significantly smaller cut, which the bandages had been previously covering. The blood is just pouring out of her wrist/arm similar to what we see in anime as well as movies like Kill Bill, meaning an unrealistic amount. However, what is in her blood is what draws the audience member in the most - book, lips, eyes staring up at Girl A, beauty supplies. These items have been notoriously known for being related to young females. During the junior/senior high school, these are the things that worry girls the most. They have pressure to do well in school/be intelligent, to look good, to have perfect lips/eyes, and (some cases) look sexy yet maintain that kawaii factor in young girls. Putting the pieces together, I would assume the Akane Koide is making a representation of how some girls handle the stress of being this beautiful object of desire; some cannot handle the pressures so they resort to cutting themselves.
Now connecting to the background. To me, Girl B is the same as Girl A. Girl A is more sexualized and materialized whereas Girl B is the complete opposite. She is more of a conservative kind of girl and placed near nature/the outdoors. To me, this is Girl B staring in at Girl A, deciding whether or not she wants to head down this path that most girls her age take. That may be one of the reasons of why she is looking past Girl A at the audience with her worried eyes.

Now for something happy ^_^
Mr. - The New Me

So, no one can deny how adorably cute this is. Mr. is well known for his anime-inspired artwork. This painting is no exception. It has the same details that would be found in an anime: the big eyes, colorful hair, and anything and everything that would be classified as kawaii - animals, sweets, and multicolored backgrounds that hold a close resemblance to a rainbow. There are many options for this girl in the kawaii world as Mr. had depicted. This girl (I assume) is around the typical pre-teen to early teen age. During that time, a girl is at the transitioning period from childhood to adolescence. Should she give give up on the things she loved as a child or grow into a responsible and mature person? By looking at her face and look in her eyes, her decision is quite clear. She is excited by the cuteness and sweetness of the kawaii culture. This is projected into her eyes. It is interesting how Mr. flipped the images seen by the girl and the audience. It is as though her eyes are mirroring the kawaii nature to better illustrate how the girls (and Mr.?) view this trend among the young girls.

And That Makes You Larger Than Life

IWAMI Reika Sea, Evening Calm, 1964

Iwami Reika was born in the year 1927. For 11 years of her life, she worked as a doll-maker and doll-carver after she graduated from Bunka Gakuin Art College in Tokyo. While she attended school there, she studied underneath Koshiro Onchi, Japanese print-maker who fathered the sousaku-hanga movement.She became a print-maker in the year 1954. Until most women in print-making, Iwami focused on solid blacks, gray, and very few colors. Most of her prints involve natures, in particular water. She followed the ideology that all work must be done by the artist themselves. Iwami is still living.

Now, time for my take on her artwork. Let's take a look at the bottom. Here we see five red broken pieces of wood. Now, keeping in mind of the theme of the artwork, these wood pieces could belong to that of a pier or those poles in the ocean (I tried finding out what those were called but no luck. Does anyone know?) As you can see, they are not perfectly straight, they are jagged and the paint is chipping off of them. This is giving the illusion that they have been there for quite some time now. Compared to the rest of the print, these poles are closer to the audience as though it is holding us back from the sea. As we look beyond the red poles, we see complete blackness. Well, not complete blackness because there were specks of glitter (but that really didn't come out all that well in the picture. It's really beautiful to look at, so you should take a walk back to the museum and view this piece again). In the blackness, we see white specks and a red net. The whites are presumably the fish that inhabit that area. The red net, however, could be an old fishing net that broke was was left in the sea by some uncaring people. The next thing we see as we pan upwards is a highlighted section of the sea. As you can see, the moon is dark and ominous. Normally, Iwami dyes the moon in her prints a gold color, but in this one she hadn't? One reason for this could be to focus the eye on the actual sea and not take away from it by the golden moon. The other reason goes along with my next point. Just next to the moon, we see a red-colored object. This object, to me at least, looks like a man's foot. The man's foot is casting a shadow over the sea as though humans are more important and are at a higher level than nature. Now, let's talk about the red color that I have avoiding up until this point. Red represents things that are powerful. The foot is the color red, the human's power can break the calmness of nature; the net is the color red, the power of this could be to hold the fish and sea animals back from getting in the way of humans; and the red poles, power to hold back those undesired to be in that area.

Ukiyo-e

***So here is the background information on this ukiyo-e. This is a scene from the famous story The Tale of Genji. This was done by the "artist" Utagawa KUNISADA sometime during his lifetime (1786 to 1865). This image is entitles Genji kou no zu: Yuugao or Genji Incense Pictures: Yuugao. The Shining Prince had just presented a poem to the servant of the beautiful Lady if the Evening Faces (Yuugao), while his attendants wait by his ox cart. This print series came with a popular brand of incense associated with each chapter of the romance.
***Utagawa KUNISADA was one of the best representatives of Japanese woodblock when it came to their colors. However, due to the globetrotters, his work as well as other top-notch ukiyo-e makers were considered to be inferior to those of the classical ukiyo-e (the ones the globetrotters were more interested in). He had created the Genji prints between the years 1835 to 1850. After he finished his Genji series, other ukiyo-e makers were following in his footsteps by creating similar type of ukiyo-e.

***Let's begin the analysis, shall we? I will begin by looking at the paper condition rather than the image itself. The paper had shown years of aging by its background color. There stains at the top of the paper were the calligraphy was, as well as on the actual ukiyo-e above Genji's attendants and on the stone walls. Where the attendants were located was a few minor creases among the stain. There were minor chips in the paint, such as the servant girl's hand and behind the girl's body.
***The quality of the ukiyo-e was dull, lines were broken, colors were faded, and the colors ran outside of their intended lines. This print must have been in the back of the printing process for none of the lines are sharp inside the artwork. Colors were slightly running outside of their lines, such as in the furthest attendant's clothes, Genji's clothes, and the flowers from the poem. Colors were in the process of fading.
***The print depicts Genji giving the servant of the beautiful and reclusive Lady of the Evening Faces (Yuugao) during the night. This was because it was the only time the Shining Prince Genji would be able to safely go out and visit his lovers. Due to the bountiful amount of the blue flowers, one would assume that it is springtime. These flowers which Genji is presenting to the servant only bloom during the night (according to Mizenko-sensei). Obviously, Genji is presenting this girl what seems to be a fan (the poem could have been written on it) adorned with flowers. His attendants are waiting for Genji to finish his visit to Yuugao. The looks on the attendant's face implies that he is getting impatient with the prince. A person who does not know the background information of this tale might assume that the woman is offering the man (Genji) the flowers and fan. The look on her face is stoic so that gives the impression that she might not care for the man at all.
***I think that ukiyo-e did a good job giving off the illusion of attempting to be 3D in a sense. It looks a little like stacked on top of one another and follows the Japanese angled lines to further that illusion. The Japanese did this when they could not produce that 3D effect. The focus seems to be on Genji and the woman. If you look at the attendants and follow their gaze, it appears to land on the two people. Although, it appears to me that the clouds are split open to allow its viewer to see Genji and this girl, due to the clouds on both top and bottom. The one attendant is gazing the umbrella (which draws the eye up to Genji) or passed the umbrella to the woman. Of course, Genji's gaze is going to the woman and the woman is looking back at him, which seems to make her appear bashful. The elements of the Japanese culture would be the style and prints of the kimonos, the hair, and the ox cart. The ox cart would be used to cover the prince's identity as he rode about during the night. The woman also has the typical beautiful Japanese face that women were always depicted with having. The people and landscape interact with one another from the flowers. Genji was giving these types of flowers to the woman and the flowers seem to be all around the house that she lives in. I feel as though the print does come off as realistic in this scene. This print seems to be among the lines of being an ouban print, meaning the size was about 10 inches wide and 15 inches high. This print, though it was part of a series, was not part of a triptych. Each scene was created separately.
***I really had no emotion for this print; it didn't draw out any emotions from me. Others might experience emotions of the love story and touched by what Genji did; some might feel curious as why he is doing what he did. This print makes me think a little bit of Romeo and Juliet, of how the two lovers had to meet in secrecy. Some people might be able to relate to that.

Is That a Sword in Your Pocket?

So, this is a picture of a samurai and his loyal assistant sometime during the years 1853 and 1867. The samurai is the man sitting at a higher level. He is obviously showcasing his superiority to the other man, his assistant. Notice the two different skin-tones. The samurai has a much paler skin tone than that of the assistant. In Japan (and in most of Asia) making pale skin was the ideal skin tone. The paler the skin tone, the more likely a person was considered beautiful and that of a higher status. So for the samurai to have this skin tone in the photograph represents his high status. The assistant, as you could see, has a very dark skin tone. Many people of lower status had dark skin due to working out in the fields and sun for long hours. So this makes me think that his job prior to being the assistant of a samurai was a field-worker. Also, the wrinkles on the forehand of the assistant makes it seem as though he is older than the samurai. In the assistant's hand, it looks as though he is carrying a parasol, perhaps the one that kept his master so pale-skinned? The samurai has a sword to both sides of him, as a true samurai would. He has a very masculine facial structure. This gives off the impression that he is a strict and strong man that will means business. He sits with a straight back, furthering asserting his position over the assistant, who is hunched over. The gaze of the samurai is going off to the viewer's right-hand side. This gives off the feelings that the samurai is better than the audience and does not need to make eye contact with those of a lower status than him. However, the assistant's gaze is directly at the audience. His eyes look as though he hates his job, he's old, and/or he's weak. The samurai is wearing a lighter color cloth, whereas the assistant is wearing a dark colored outfit. The assistant would not wear light colors for the colors would show the dirt from his work on his outfit. This was probably done to further illustrate the status difference between the two men.