Japanese tattoo art has a lot of names - irezumi and horimono in the Japanese language. Irezumi is the word meant for the basic visible ink covering huge parts of the body like the back. Japanese tattoo art has a extremely extensive tradition.

Since the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism over the Japanese culture, tattoo art has a damaging connotation for the majority of the Japanese individuals. In the eyes of an ordinary Japanese a ink is considered a mark of a yakuza - a member of the Japanese mafia - and a macho emblem of members of the lesser classes.