Tebori tattoo 手彫り – Hand Carved Tattoo
It is impossible to fully understand Japanese tattoos if one doesn’t understand the Japanese words associated with this practice.
A common misconception is that all tattoos are frowned upon in Japan. This is true only for Japanese people wearing tattoos, they mostly do not really care about outsiders having tattoos. This tattoo snobbism dates a while back, during the Edo period (1600-1868). During those times, tattoos were used to mark criminals of their petty crimes (ex: stealing). Petty crimes would not require a death sentence, but the authorities would mark the criminal with a visible tattoo to warn the population. This type of punishment was called Bokukei. After time, groups of criminals (like the Yakuzas) would seek out tattoo artists to get their bokukei covered by elaborate and beautiful tattoos.
These tattoos were done on criminals to warn the population of their mischief. This punishment was done for petty crimes since the death penalty was very present in ancient times in Japan.
Tattoo artists, called Horishi, started to make complex tattoos with colors and designs. Based on Japanese woodblock prints, they would create a piece of art on the skin of their client. This is where a second word for tattoo came to be: Horimono (which means tattoo).
Today, the word that is most used to design tattoos is Irezumi, which is a general term for tattoo. Irezumi is mostly used to design simple tattoos as Horimono is used to design large and elaborate tattoos.
Here is the link for the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1h8K92cEag
Different reasons explain these different ways of saying the word “TATTOO” in the Japanese language. The main reason is that during the Meiji era (1868-1912), the government made a law stating that tattoos were illegal. This resulted in the criminalisation of the art. Therefore, all the words associated with tattoos (like bokukei, horimono and irezumi) were associated with criminal activities. Event if it has been more than a hundred years, you can still feel the unease of Japanese people when they say these words.
On top of all those different words to say tattoo, there are two different styles of tattoo in Japan. Yobori is used to describe Occidental tattoo done at the machine, while Wabori is used to describe traditional Japanese tattoo done by hand (by Tebori).
Yobori is traditional tattooing like we know it. Done with an electric tattoo machine, this type of tattoo was imported to Japan by Americans. Yobori refers to the classic tattoo styles such as Old School, New School, Neotraditional, etc. everything that refers to the occident.
Wabori was invented in Japan and is what we call Japanese style. Based on woodblock prints and classic Buddhism imageries, wabori regroups everything that is Japanese in a tattoo. Wabori is tarditionnally done by Tebori (by hand).
Before electricity, Tebori was invented during the Edo period by Horishi to cover-up bokukei (punishment tattoos) with elaborate horimonos. Tebori is done by putting needles at the end of a bamboo stick. The ink is inserted in the skin by a thrusting motion done by hand by the Horishi.
Both tattoo styles are practiced in Japan. Some artists simply practice wabori while certain can do both wabori and yobori. This mainly depends on the master and the tattoo family.
Having fewer artists doing tebori tattoos, there are certain myths around this mysterious practice. Some believe that a tattoo done by tebori is magical and protects the wearer because the artist puts his entire self in the tattoo, like a talisman. In Japan, a tattoo done by tebori has a bigger spiritual value than a tattoo done by a tattoo machine.
There seems to be two characteristics that are true surrounding tebori:
- Tebori tattoo is less painful than tattoos done by machine since there are less needles perforating the skin by second.
- Colors tend to stay flashier longer since more pigment is inserted under the skin.
But keep in mind that not every type of tattoo can be done by Tebori. Usually, the tattoo style associated with tebori is Traditional Japanese tattoo because this style has a lot of flashy colors, not a lot of shades and bold lines. It would be impossible to do a portrait by Tebori.
Yes I do tebori !
I do tebori tattoos, but I choose pieces that I know will be better done by tebori than by the tattoo machine. I don’t do everything by tebori.
It’s important to understand also that a tattoo done by Tebori takes more time and is therefore more expensive. For more information or to ask for a Tebori tattoo, you can fill up my online form: www.jftattoo.com