The tattoo culture is prevalent in many countries and each of them has its own history and tradition. The images and symbolism associated with images are the points that make a tattoo acquire a national identity. The land of the rising sun, i.e. Japan is well-known for its tattoo art. The koi fish and cherry blossom flowers have already acquired a distinct popularity in the world. There is one another aspect of the Japanese tattoos that is notorious and people are curious to know about it.
It is the Yakuza tattoo.
The yakuza refers to a criminal or the organized crime syndicate operating in Japan for more than hundred years.
The yakuza tattoo is worn by members of the gang as a mark of identity that shows their allegiance to a particular group. The origin of the tattoos can be traced back to the practice of branding the criminals with tattoo marks as punishment. In all probability, the yakuza tattoos have been influenced by the aforementioned act. The mysterious tattoos, worn by the gang members, have numerous symbols representing the Japanese culture. Here we give you a low down on the tattoos through these 35 images. Take a look.
If you like this article, you might be interested in some of our other articles on Gang Tattoos, Outlaw Tattoos, Hispanic Tattoos and Russian Prison Tattoos.
Yakuza Back
A raging emperor and a dragon as backdrop gracing the back of the yakuza make for a majestic portrait.
Yakuza Back
Yakuzas Together
Gang members inside a police station with their various full body yakuza tattoos.
Yakuzas Together
Tattoos Exhibition
The yakuzas display different types of tattoos, partly and fully covering their body parts.
Tattoos Exhibition
Full Back Tattoo
This tattoo has popular images representing the Japanese culture like the koi fish and the cherry blossom flowers.
Yakuza Dragon Tattoo
The yakuza has a fierce dragon with a kanji symbol in its claws, tattooed on his back.
Shoulder Tattoo
A vibrant, fully bloomed red flower with black and white flaming outlines makes for an attractive and aggressive design.
Shoulder Tattoo
Hangman Front Tattoo
This tattoo, fully covering the torso, has an angry hangman with a blood soaked sword in his hand.
Showing Off
The veteran yakuza flaunts his half body tattoo in style among the bevy of criminals.
Full Body Suit
Cherry blossom flowers, eagle and koi fish adorn the body of the yakuza in this full body tattoo piece.
Picturesque Design
Full back tattoo design inspired from the movie 108 Heroes of the Suikoden.
Half Body Tattoo
This tattoo bearing an image of a beautiful woman points to the aesthetic eye of the yakuza.
Half Body Tattoo
Comics Yakuza Tattoo
Side tattoo covering the armpit that consists of furious looking comic book character and flowers.
Geisha Tattoo
This yakuza has cherry blossom flowers and the image of a geisha on his back as tattoo design.
Yakuza Girl
The fabulous abs of the girl decorated with yakuza tattoo design looks sexy and hot.
Walking Art Piece
Full body decorated on the lines of yakuza tattoo design makes for a fantastic attraction point.
Poplular Tattoo Design
Cherry blossom flowers and koi fish are widely worn by the yakuzas as tattoo designs.
Yakuza Gang
A six member gang of yakuzas wearing back pieces that has a man making different facial expressions on different bodies.
Robust Yakuzas
Sporting their full body tattoos and being stared at by others, the yakuzas make for a cool picture.
Powerful Yakuza Tattoo
Showing a dreadful gangster tearing a tree branch with his teeth, the tattoo stands for the energy level of yakuzas.
Devil Inside
The hanya mask is a legend about a jealous wife!
Half Body Suit
Yakuza, wearing a torso tattoo, has got a collage of dangerous images and flowers on it.
Upper Back Tattoo
A Yakuza gang head, looking royal in his attire, finds place as tattoo design the upper back.
Dangerous Fight
This full back, black and white tattoo, shows a fight between a dragon and a whiplash carrying woman.
Sanja Masturi Scene
The yakuzas display their full body tattoos during the three shrine festival held in May, every year.
Roaring Dragon
The symbol of power and mystery is an approprite tattoo design for the yakuzas.
Taming The Dragon
The charming geisha tries to hold the wild dragon with her charm and magic.
Interesting look taken from a different time and culture.
Nice collection of Yakusa tattoos, so clear and colorful.
The Hangman Front Tattoo would be a very great Yakuza tattoo design in this collection. Great compilation here.
Where is the Yakuza girl’s belly button ?
There is no bellybutton because that is her back LOL
Where can I get a yakuza tattoo done at in the U.S.? Or No?
Ti Ti, try calling your local tattoo shop and going from there. Thanks!
nice arts trully the warrior code stand above oll
A lot of very lovely irezumi (I love the one with the dive-bombing airplane, though the entire tattoo feels pretty new school to me), but a lot of the subjects are misidentified, lol. The ‘hangman’ is Fudo Myoou, one of the ‘Five Wisdom Kings’ venerated in many sects of Japanese Buddhism; the lariat he uses is to catch and bind evil. All of the so-called geisha tattoos are actually angels (tennyo), and I’m almost positive that the upper back tattoo of a warrior on horseback is in fact Tomoe Gozen, a legendary warrior woman of the Heian period who rode to victory in many battles.
I think that the ‘Geisha’ tattoo is actually a figure of Guanyin Boddhistthva a respected figure of Buddhist culture. I could be wrong though, if not I would appreciate you correcting the label, as it would be offensive to call a religious figure a male entertainer. Sorry if I’m being oversensitive lol
alot of this was misinformation