Reading Response: People as Pictures

        The Japanese "Irezumi" is a painful tattooing process that can take up to a year to complete.  This ancient form of art is still done today, despite less expensive and painless modern processes.  It is an important part of culture.  Many organizations use this as a form of initiation and is sometimes used as a occupational badge.  The hands neck and head are usually left bare so a person can wear formal cloths without showing anything.  It is done with a basic awl and gouge, with pigments that can be quite unpleasant when put under the skin.
     I find it very interesting how Japanese culture views tattoos compared to our concept of them in america.  We put little thought, meaning, or hesitation into them, often getting them just because they look good or simply to say you got one.  Whereas in Japan, it sounds like you don't just get a tattoo for any small reason, but there is great significance in getting one.  The way that some people make a living showing off their irezumi and that museums display extensive ones, makes it seem as if they are almost revered.  I think it is strange that so much emphasis is placed on simple markings on your body.
    One of the things that was most interesting about this article is how the japanese culture viewed the naked human body as disgusting and how tattoos were often used to cover this up.  Although different body types are thought of as more attractive than others in different cultures, in the U.S. and in most cultures around the world the body of the opposite sex is viewed as being attractive.  Before reading this I thought that this was something that was more natural and not culturally based.  But I must say that the some of the irezumi artwork make the human body much more interesting to look at, but in a completely different way.  I wonder if this is what caused them to see the naked body as plain and unattractive.
    The article said that irezumi was sometimes used as a form of punishment.  I think that this would work very well for this purpose.  First it would hurt a lot.  Also whenever they saw the tattoo they would be reminded of how much it hurt.  I think that this would help keep them out of trouble.