Tattooed Heroes of the Suikoden by Kunisada III
As in previous articles I counted on succinct way the history of Irezumi. In the next articles I will expose in the same way the art of Horimono: history, technique, teachers and most representative drawings.
The word Irezumi designates any type of tattoo, both Japanese and foreign, irebokuro the tattoos with which criminals were marked, nukibori to the current westernized tattoo and Horimono to the traditional tattoo exclusive to Japan whose beginnings date back to the middle of the XNUMXth century.
Horimono beginnings
The women also admired the horimono
Shuihu Zhuan and the 108 Bandits of the "Water Margin" (published in Japan under the title Suikoden in 1805) narrated the adventures of brave bandits who rebelled against the established power, defending the people from the abuses of corrupt leaders, with honor and courage. It caused a strong impact as it was based on the true story of Song Jiang and his 36 companions.
Engraving School Artists Ukiyo-e they drew striking illustrations depicting them in dynamic fight scenes with fully tattooed bodies. The most relevant characteristic was that they had tattoos within tattoos, so the result was fascinating.
The drawings Most in demand were the Monk Rochischin, the player Li Kui and the warrior Shi Jing with his spectacular tattoo of nine dragons.
Aside from the Suikoden warriors, the Horimono represents the traditional iconography Japanese, its legends and myths: elements of nature such as wind eddies, spiral waves or imposing mountains; mythological animals like the phoenix; flowers like sakura; gods like the Buddha of the Pure Land.
La koi carp
Tattoos that cover the entire body like a suit and come to life on the skin of the tattooed person who becomes a human canvas of the horishi or master tattoo artist. A fascinating art that we will discover in the next articles.
Photos- wikipedia