Have tattoos been common among Japanese people since ancient times? When did the current tattoo culture disappear? fashion?
2024-01-07
Category:Japanese culture
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Japan has had a tattoo culture since ancient times.
You may hear people say that Japan does not have a culture of tattooing, but tattooing is actually an ancient Japanese culture. In Gishi Wajinden, it is written that Wa people liked tattoos, and both men and women had tattoos on their faces and all over their bodies. People in China and the peninsula don't have tattoos. It is said that these things are not done due to Confucianism. This is not a recommendation. People who don't want to don't have to.
Influence from southern Asia?
Many cultures were introduced to Japan from southern China, and there were people living in what is now Southeast Asia in the southern part. The method of preserving fish in vinegared rice, which is the origin of sushi, is said to have come from Southeast Asia, where tattoos are common. Sake is said to have originated from southern China's Shaoxing wine, which was originally made from sake-brewing technology that was brought to Japan. Northern China has a field farming culture, and southern China has a rice farming culture.
Tattoos that have been banned since the Meiji era
Tattoos began to be banned in Japan due to the influence of Confucianism. Even so, Toyama Kinshiro Kagemoto of Toyama Kin-san had a tattoo. Even judges had tattoos back then. It is said that tattoos were completely banned after the Meiji Restoration. The reason is for westernization. Even in the West, some people got tattoos, but they were only one-point tattoos, and they were not tattoos that covered the entire body like in Japan at the time. Amid these regulations, Japan's tattoo culture was inherited by the world of chivalry.
Read it together
Sphinx and Nagaoki Ikeda. Samurai takes a commemorative photo of Egypt and visits the Suez Canal
Mysterious group of samurai in front of the Sphinx
Goes to France to apologize for Idogaya Incident
The Suez Canal is a huge waterway for the colonization of Asia
Edo shogunate that canceled the Paris Agreement
Edo shogunate's country opening theory
The first photo was taken by a samurai in front of the Sphinx in Egypt. It is often introduced as a humorous image. In the scorching heat of Egypt, wearing a crested hakama seems to convey the heat. The second photo is Nagafuku Ikeda, a foreign magistrate of the Edo Shogunate who was participating in this group.
In 1863, the Idogaya Incident occurred in Japan, where three ronin, believed to be members of the Joi group, murdered a French military officer near Yokohama. A 34-person delegation, including Nagafatsu Ikeda, traveled to France to apologize and make peace with the incident.
The group arrived in Paris, had an audience with Emperor Napoleon III, apologized to the French government for the incident, and paid 195,000 francs in support to the family.
The 34-member delegation arrived in Cairo from Suez via India from Shanghai on their way to Paris, where they posed for a commemorative photo in front of the Sphinx. This is a picture of a samurai in front of the Sphinx.
The Suez Canal is an bypass built by France to allow ships from Europe to go to Asia without passing through Cape Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Ikeda and his colleagues inspected it.
Afterwards, reconciliation with France was reached in Paris, and the group, recognizing the power of Western civilization, signed the Treaty of Paris, which promised the opening of three ports, including Yokohama, as free ports.
The Edo shogunate ordered a mission to negotiate the closure of Yokohama Port, but this was difficult due to French resistance. Nagafuku Ikeda, seeing the strength of Western culture, abandoned negotiations and concluded the Treaty of Paris.
After returning to Japan, Nagafuku Ikeda appealed to the shogunate about the importance of opening the country, but it was not accepted, and the shogunate, which had a policy of closing ports, canceled the Treaty of Paris, and as punishment, Ikeda's stone allowance was cut in half. Although Ikeda was later forgiven and returned to politics, he soon resigned from his post and died at the age of 42. What kind of truth did Ikeda see during this trip?
Ikeda Nagafuku, as a member of the Edo Shogunate, called for the opening of the country. He was a member of the shogunate, which was on the opposite side of Sakamoto Ryoma, Katsu Kaishu, and Saigo Takamori, who started the Meiji Restoration. It can be said that the scale of the Western Industrial Revolution was shocking.
The Meiji Restoration side looked overseas and considered the future of Japan, but the Edo shogunate tried to maintain isolation and the shogunate system. Ikeda, who saw the West with his own eyes, felt the same feeling as the young people on the Meiji Restoration side.
Enactment of the Organized Crime Countermeasures Act
Due to this background, tattoos came to be considered anti-social forces. This is now called Japanese culture. Furthermore, in Japan, the anti-organized crime law was enacted in 1992, placing significant restrictions on the activities of anti-social forces in general society, and these groups are currently on the decline, with public baths now being sought after in the city. You no longer see people who were once members of organized crime groups.
Public baths where you cannot enter if you have a tattoo
Young people in Japan now have tattoos as a fashion item. In other words, they seem to be trying to create their own individuality by drawing something on their bodies, just like the Japanese of old. The pattern is a so-called tattoo that looks good on clothes. Tourists coming from foreign countries are told that if they have a tattoo, they won't be able to go to the traditional Japanese hot springs that they were looking forward to, so they wrap them in some kind of cloth to hide it, but they are told that the cloth is also bad. It seems that there are cases where the application is refused. On the contrary, it is said that young Japanese people with tattoos cannot go to hot springs, which is a part of Japanese culture.
Is it OK for men to take women's baths?
You may be wondering what I'm trying to say, but Japanese people need to protect the culture of public baths, which is unique to Japan, in a healthy manner. Nowadays, it seems that men who are women at heart are thinking about how to bathe women.
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Surprisingly few countries see the first sunrise of the year - The arrival of sunlight in Japan is connected to the sun worshiping Amaterasu Omikami
When I looked into how many countries have the custom of watching the first sunrise of the year, I found that it was fewer than I expected, with countries such as Mongolia, South Korea, Russia, the United States, and Canada mentioned. It is said that Russia, the United States, Canada, and other countries have a culture that spread from the Arctic Circle, so it is a so-called Inuit culture. There is a connection because the Inuit are said to be Mongoloids.
It is unclear why this custom spread to Korea, but the prevailing theory is that Japan's ethnic roots are Mongoloid or Caucasian, and I have seen the genetic theory of Lake Baikal. Although Lake Baikal is now part of Russia, it is thought that Mongoloid people lived at that time as well, and Kyrgyz folklore says that it was the Japanese who moved east and the Kyrgyz who moved west. . Even Japanese people are surprised at how similar Kyrgyz people are to Japanese people.
In Japan in particular, the first sunrise is also called goraiko and is considered a blessing, as it is associated with ancient Japanese beliefs. Japan's national flag is the Japanese flag and the sun. The Rising Sun Flag also has a deformed sun design to make it stand out. What does this originate from? It is a belief in the sun, which is a belief in nature. In other words, Amaterasu Omikami. Amaterasu Omikami, said to be the origin of the imperial lineage, is enshrined at Ise Grand Shrine, and there are many shrines dedicated to Amaterasu Omikami in various places. Currently, there is a debate about male-lineal succession, but if you trace the paternal lineage, you will reach the first emperor, Emperor Jimmu, and in fact, in mythology, you will reach Amaterasu Omikami. This has been the legitimate imperial line in Japan since the beginning of recorded history.
The reason that many Japanese people raise the national flag and sing the national anthem without learning anything about the history of the national flag and the Emperor (Imperial lineage), which are considered symbols of Japan, is a problem of education. Why aren't these basic things taught in elementary school? Taking up the Amanoiwato myth, the imperial lineage is written from Amaterasu Omikami, the sun god, and the sun is depicted on the Japanese flag. It's that simple.
The prohibition on religious education under the Constitution only prohibits propagating or excluding a specific religion, recommending conversion to any religion, or denying religion itself. There is no problem if you explain the customs and culture of the beginning of the year, such as Christmas, New Year's Eve bell, and the first sunrise of the year. At least many Japanese people enjoy Christmas, listen to New Year's Eve bells on New Year's Eve, and visit shrines on New Year's Day.
The legendary drama 'Oshin' is very popular overseas and was broadcast in 68 countries and regions | viewership rating in Egypt was 80%, and in Iran it was 90%.
Legendary drama broadcast in 68 countries and regions around the world
Singapore and Egypt record 80% viewership
90% viewer rating in Iran, chosen as the ideal woman
Also broadcast in China, but in Korea...
Oshin achieved great achievements in Cool Japan
"Oshin" was a hit not only in Japan but also in many countries overseas, and it is surprising how many countries and regions it was aired in. It was broadcast in 68 countries and regions.
"Oshin" is a hit NHK drama that aired for one year from 1983. This is the story of a young girl who leaves her home as a servant and goes through various hardships to live and succeed in the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras, and is a vivid depiction of life in Japan's poor rural villages at the time. Oshin was written by Sugako Hashida, and became her most famous work.
In Japan, it has recorded an astonishing average viewership rating of 52.6% and a maximum viewership rating of 62.9%, which is the highest viewership rating ever for a TV drama. Sugako Hashida has worked on countless works including "Wataru Sekai wa Oni Dake", NHK TV drama series, and taiga dramas.
The first overseas broadcast recorded an audience rating of 80% in Singapore and 80% audience rating in Egypt. When the drama begins, everyone goes home. A power outage occurred during the broadcast and the broadcast was interrupted. Angry Egyptians who cannot watch the drama storm the broadcasting station and riots ensue. In addition, large quantities of food have been sent to broadcast stations to feed poor people.
In Iran, 90% audience rating was recorded. When asked on a radio broadcast who the ideal woman is, Oshin is chosen over Supreme Leader Khomeini's daughter. This became a major problem and led to the dismissal of four people in charge of the radio station. In addition, when asked who the ideal next leader of the country would be, Oshin, who is not a Muslim, was ranked 4th .
Oshin is famous in China as Asin, and the audience rating in Beijing at the time of the broadcast was 75.9%. China was an enemy country in the past, with whom she fought a war, but when she saw Oshin, tears covered her eyes. Many say that the image of Japan has changed. It was rebroadcast in China in 2007.
As you can imagine, is unfortunately not broadcast in Korea. The 1998 Japan-Korea Joint Declaration lifted the ban on Japanese dramas and culture in South Korea, but for some reason Oshin is not being broadcast. This may be the drama that most people don't want to see because it changes the image of Japan.
Currently, various Japanese contents such as anime are exported overseas under the framework of Cool Japan, but in the 1980s, a full-length TV novel with 297 episodes was broadcast in 68 countries and regions around the world. Even today, this can be considered a great achievement.
After the end of the war, the image of Japan was hardly known overseas, and people were only aware of it as samurai, geisha, and ninja, but Japanese culture, the Japanese way of thinking, and the way of life in Oshin's time were introduced to the world. It happened.
South Korea, which tries to equate the Rising Sun flag with Hakenkreuz, is completely unaware of its history and meaning.
Japan's national anthem, ``Kimigayo,'' is based on an unknown tanka that was published in the Kokin Wakashu of the Heian period. It's a song whose author is unknown. In the Kokin Wakashu, it says, ``My lord will ripple through a thousand and eight thousand generations until he becomes a rock of stone and becomes a child of moss.'' Who this ``my lord'' refers to is a hot topic, but the original meaning of this poem is ``You... It means "May you live a long and healthy life forever."
This song has been sung during birthdays, weddings, and celebrations of life milestones throughout Japan's long history. After the Meiji Restoration, it was put to music and performed as a song wishing for the long life of the Emperor. In other words, this era was the song of the Meiji Restoration. After that, Japan entered the war, and some forces denounce this as a symbol of militarism, but it only describes Japan for a short period of time in its long history.
A similar story can be said about the Rising Sun flag. There are various theories about the design of the Rising Sun flag, but one theory is that it is a legend that Amaterasu Omikami, the sun god, came out of a rock and the sun returned to this world. The legend of Iwato dates back to the time of the first Emperor Jinmu. In this way, the rising sun pattern has been used for various celebrations since ancient times in Japan, and when Japan entered World War II, it was adopted as the flag of the Japanese military. In other words, it is merely an explanation of Japan for a short period of time.
Considering this timeline, the Hakenkreuz was first the party flag of the Nazi Party, which then became the national flag. The reason why the swastika was adopted as the flag of the Nazi Party is that the swastika, which was painted on the ruins of Troy, was thought to be a symbol of the Aryan race and was adopted.
In other words, the national symbol associated with the idea of a chosen people coincided with the thinking of the Nazi Party, which advocated the principle of Germanic first, and became a symbol of the genocide of the Jews. In other words, this flag was adopted based on the consistent ideology of the chosen people.
Please tell Professor Seo Kyung-deok, who has never studied history, a little bit.
The only one in the world? Japan eats raw eggs. Why are raw eggs safe in Japan? Egg rice is a soul food in Japan.
Japan seems to be the only country in the world that eats raw eggs. Japan is known as a country where tap water is drinkable, but you might think it's a similar story, but it's not. In Japan, tap water is drinkable because it is soft and sanitary water is thoroughly controlled, and eggs are only born from chickens, so there is no difference in countries around the world.
Even if you explain it as a food culture, eggs are probably eaten all over the world, so why did Japan come to eat eggs raw? You might think it's a matter of Japanese tastes, but foreigners say that sukiyaki is delicious, and even simple rice with egg is delicious. Could it be that only Japanese people noticed the taste of raw eggs?
If you ask foreigners, they will tell you that raw eggs are dangerous. Then, I wondered why Japanese eggs were so safe, and when I looked into it, I found out that Salmonella bacteria is contained in the parent hens' feces and urine and seems to penetrate through the egg shells. Alternatively, if the parent chicken is infected with Salmonella, eggs infected with Salmonella will be born. Current Japanese poultry farms take thorough measures to prevent Salmonella, which is why they can even be eaten as raw eggs.
Then, when did Japan start eating raw eggs? When I researched it, I found that before the Edo period, food derived from animals was avoided due to the influence of Buddhism, and there seems to be a mention of raw eggs in the Edo period. Later, there was a mention of tamago kakigohan (egg-dried rice) in the Meiji period, and it is said that Ogai Mori also liked eating it.
When I researched Salmonella, I discovered that it was named after Daniel Salmon, a bacteriologist who discovered the type strain of the Salmonella genus, Hog cholera, in the United States in 1885. It became. In the Edo period, there would have been no recognition of Salmonella.
In summary, Japanese people did not have any biological knowledge about Salmonella, but they did know that if parent chickens were kept in an unsanitary environment, the baby eggs would have fatal problems if eaten by humans. On the other hand, they knew that if they thoroughly managed and cleaned the chickens, this problem would not occur.
Japanese cuisine that brings out the taste of ingredients.Japanese unique evolution without spices.
Japanese food is said to be unique.Japanese food uses very little spice.The West colonized Asia for spices.In Western cuisine, pepper is a magic powder used to eliminate the smell of meat, and pepper is indispensable for preserved meat such as pancetta.It is said that Japan did not have access to spices because it was closed to the country at that time, but since the Meiji Restoration, there have been no dishes that use a lot of spices.South Korean food is rich in chili peppers, which came from Japan when Hideyoshi went to Korea.Soy sauce comes from China.The distinctive difference between Chinese and Japanese cuisine is that Chinese cuisine uses a lot of oil, but the Japanese don't like it.As a result, it led to the longevity of the Japanese.
The basis of Japanese cuisine is soup stock.In Japan, umami ingredients derived from seafood are historically used.Glutamic acid, the ingredient of Ajinomoto, was discovered by a Japanese, Ikeda Kikunae, and is said to have made world cuisine delicious.Glutamic acid is one of the delicious ingredients, which is also derived from the exploration of the taste and ingredients contained in Japanese ingredients.
In 1907, Ikeda Kikunae succeeded in extracting sodium L-glutamate from kelp.
In the West, the concept of soup stock includes French cuisine using consomme soup.In Italy, fish and shellfish are boiled down or fried as toppings, so you can get soup stock as a result.Boil down the ingredients in soup and you'll get the soup stock.The world-famous soups are Borscht and Tom Yum Kung.
Many foreigners say that Japanese sushi is delicious because it is fresh, but that's not the case.At high-end sushi restaurants, tuna is matured with the restaurant's technology for a reasonable period of time and sushi is made with ingredients that bring out sufficient flavor.Since there were no spices in Japan, it is the present state by pursuing technology and harmony that fully brings out the taste of the ingredients.This is one of the unique dishes in the world.
Japanese food has developed into its own style because spices did not enter Japan during the long period of isolation.