A whole crowd of people is there, cheering on criminals, brazenly showing off their irezumi - now commonly thought of as a Yakuza tattoo tradition.īut an irezumi isn't just a Yakuza tattoo, it's the mark of a complex Japanese tradition that has been a part of the nation’s history for some 12,000 years. To the police watching from the sidelines, it can seem an unnerving display of strength. It is the Sanja Matsuri festival: the one time of year when the men of Japan’s Yakuza crime syndicates will tear off their clothes and reveal the full-body tattoos that, in the minds of many, are the very thing that mark them as criminals. A great procession of men stripped to their underwear flood the streets and show off the tapestry of colors painted onto their skin thanks to the ancient Japanese tattoo art of irezumi. For three days a year on the third weekend of May, the streets of Tokyo's Asakusa district come alive.
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