Most people pick a Japanese motif because it looks good and tough. Fair enough — it does. But in irezumi nothing is just decoration, and the thing you’re about to wear for the rest of your life is saying something whether you know it or not. So before you do, here’s what a few of the classics actually mean.
The koi. The determined one. There’s an old story of the carp that swims up the waterfall against the current, and if it makes it to the top, it turns into a dragon. So the koi is struggle, grit, refusing to quit. In a word – perseverance. Which way it swims matters too — a koi heading up is still in the fight, still climbing. One heading down has already made it. People get this one going up at the hard points in their life for a reason.
The dragon. Forget the Western idea of a dragon as something to slay. In Japan the dragon is wise, generous, a protector — tied to water and the sky, a force that uses its strength to look after things and people rather than burn them down. It’s power kept in check. A good motif to wear if that’s what you’re reaching for.
The snake. The guardian. The snake wards off illness, bad luck and disaster — it’s worn as protection, plain and simple. It also means renewal, because it sheds its skin and starts again. Old, wise, and on your side. It’s my own personal talisman as I have my full back tattooed with snake.
The hannya. This is a complicated one. That mask — the horns, the grin — comes from Noh theatre, and it’s a woman turned into a demon by jealousy and grief. Sounds grim, but it’s not just a demon It’s the whole of a person, the beautiful and the dangerous in the one face, and worn the right way it’s a protector too — a warning to anything that means you harm. There’s more going on in a hannya than in almost anything else in the tradition.
Here’s the real bit. You don’t need a doctorate in this, and I’m not telling you a snake will literally keep you healthy. But irezumi has meant these things for hundreds of years, and when the meaning lines up with something true about you, the tattoo stops being a picture and starts being your story. That’s the whole point of choosing with intention instead of off a screen.
And the motifs talk to each other — the creatures go with certain flowers, certain backgrounds, certain seasons. Get the grammar right and the meanings stack into one story that’s about you. Get it wrong and it’s just nice drawing for a poster or tee shirt.
If you want a piece that means enhances your story and creates the narrative that is your life, come and have a chat with us, No rush. That’s kind of the whole idea.
— Horisumi