Controversy and the New Zealand MOKO Ancient

Controversy and the
New Zealand MOKO
Ancient art of the Japanese Tebori Tattoo
Masters
AND THERE’S MORE!
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45 SOMETHING ABOUT
TATTOOS this is a description
about whatever this article is
about.
48 SOMETHING ELSE
ABOUT TATTOOS this is a
description about whatever this
article is about.
3 SOMETHING ABOUT
TATTOOS
52 do you like
tattooS? this is a descrip-
This is a description about
whatever this article is about.
8 SOMETHING ELSE
ABOUT TATTOOS this is a
description about whatever this
article is about.
38
13 do you like
tattooS? this is a descrip-
tion about whatever this article is
about.
17 CONTROVERSY
AND THE NEW
ZEALAND MOKO this
is a description about whatever
this article is about.
17
23 MORE INTERESTING
THINGS ABOUT TATTOOS AND HOW THEY
MAKE OTHER PEOPLE
FEEL ,this is a description
about whatever this article is
about.
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tion about whatever this article is
about.
25 SOMETHING ABOUT
TATTOOS this is a description
about whatever this article is
about.
27 SOMETHING ELSE
ABOUT TATTOOS this is a
description about whatever this
article is about.
33 do you like
tattooS? this is a descrip-
tion about whatever this article is
about.
38 THE ANCIENT ART OF
THE JAPANESE
TEBORI TATTOO
MASTERS this is a
60 ANOTHER
ARTICLE THAT
I FORGET THE
NAME OF this is a
description about whatever this
article is about.
67 MORE INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT
TATTOOS AND HOW
THEY MAKE OTHER
PEOPLE FEEL ,this is a
description about whatever this
article is about.
SPRING 2012
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controversy
and the
new zealand moko
International Influences and Appropriation of
the Maori Tattoo
One of the most visible and spiritual
aspects of Maori culture is the moko, or
traditional tattoo. This beautiful artwork
has enjoyed a renaissance in recent
years, with both Maori and non-Maori receiving it on their skin, as well as using it
as inspiration in other artistic ventures.
Traditional methods and purposes are
often lost or ignored in these modern
interpretations, leading to controversy.
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The Place of the Moko
in Traditional Culture
The moko is a sacred part of Maori tradition.
It could only be given by certain men, who
had considerable prestige and training, and
the act of giving the moko to a person was
surrounded by tapu (a state similar to holiness or sacredness, or the forbidden). There
were many rules governing the act, including
that the recipient could not talk to others
who were not also receiving the moko, and
could not eat with his or her hands during
the process.
Tattooing the moko was a long and painful process, particularly as the marks were
not made with a needle, but with a chisel
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which left a grove in the skin. It was considered part of the ritual, and a demonstration
of the recipient’s mana (spiritual strength
or courage) that he or she not display any
discomfort while their skin was being broken.
The design of each moko was unique,
and although much of the symbolism is lost
now; it would usually display the tribe and
status of the wearer. It might also tell of his
battle wounds, or ancestors or in the woman’s case, her right to marry, or her job, such
as midwife. It also told of the plain fact that
the wearer had been given the right to wear
moko, something that was not granted to
everyone, and that the wearer had survived
the giving of it, also far from a certainty.
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real
A History of Controversy
Controversy began with the introduction of
European methods of tattooing. Needles
in particular became more popular and
eventually overtook the traditional chisel.
The moko made with needles could be of a
finer design, as well as healing faster and
cleaner. However, in Michael King’s book
Moko: Maori Tattooing in the 20th Century,
he explains that some families, as late as
the 1970’s, did not
consider tattooing with
needles the ‘real thing’.
An even greater
controversy, with
implications reaching
into the modern era,
concerns the historical
trade in Maori heads or
mokomokai. Often when
someone with moko died, the head would be
preserved by the tribe. It would be dried and
kept as a tribute to the mana of the previous
owner. European museums and private collectors of colonial times wanted these heads
and would pay high prices for them, leading
to a grisly trade of heads for guns.
The heads were often of slaves that had
not been tattooed in life, but were given full
A mummified Maori head
that was once kept in a
Normandy museum. It was
recently repatriated to New
Zealand after 136 years.
A non-Maori artist tattooing
modified Maori designs to a
non-Maori recipient.
tattooing with needles
is not the real thing.
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moko after death to increase their price, or
people killed in raids purposely engineered to
collect heads. Many of these heads are still
in museums in foreign countries and recently
there has been a movement to return the
heads to their descendants, or at least to
New Zealand. Many mokomokai have been
brought home as a result of this, but many
more are still overseas.
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A New Zealand Native
participating in a
traditional festival
DEVALUING THE
SACRED NATURE
OF MOKO
Modern Ta Moko
Controversies
There is debate over the validity of giving
moko to non-Maori. Several celebrities have
had Maori designs tattooed on themselves
recently, notably Robbie Williams and Ben
Harper. In the case of Williams, although his
tattoo was made by a Maori artist, it was not
meant to be meaningful in the traditional
sense. Pita Sharples, a Maori cultural authority, objected to the design, claiming that it
was the intellectual property of his tribe.
There were cases of Europeans being given moko (or having moko forced upon them)
even before the decline of moko tradition.
John Rutherford, for example, was a sailor
who was captured by a tribe and forcibly
tattooed. So the controversy today lies not
with the idea of non-Maori being tattooed,
but with non-Maori people appropriating the
traditional designs without understanding
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them, or giving them proper respect. This has
also been demonstrated on the catwalk, with
several cases in the last ten years of moko
art used as a theme in designer collections,
such as Jean Paul Gaultier’s in 2007. Some
praise this sort of international attention as a
means of showcasing Maori art to the world.
Others condemn it for devaluing the sacred
nature of moko.
The break of a century or more, particularly in the art of mens’ moko which died out
around the mid 1800’s, means that there
is little or no real continuity in the craft, and
practitioners today must go on with fragmented knowledge. This, along with global
appropriation of local designs, has led to
debate over the true purpose and respect
due to modern interpretations of ta moko.
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ANCIENT ART OF THE
JAPANESE TEBORI
TATTOO MASTERS
INK IN HARMONY
Taking off from JFK today for a two week trip
that will take me on a quick stop at Tokyo,
then on to Korea, China, and finally Hong
Kong. The zen and artistry of Japanese
tattoo has long fascinated me, and with this
trip, this post seemed only fitting.
Oguri, known in Japan as Horihide,
his tattooing name, is a famous artist and
highly regarded as the pioneer that brought
Japanese tattooing to American tattooists,
like Sailor Jerry, and subsequently Ed Hardy,
after World War II. Thus setting the stage for
large Asian body suit tattoo design to change
the face of western tattooing in the last half
of the twenty first century. Here in his own
words is his story.
In old days, Japanese tattooists worked
at their own houses and ran business quietly
(without using the ads.). They didn’t put up
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a sign and list telephone numbers on the
book. The practice of tattooing was forbidden
in Japan (until the end of World War II). The
customers used to find the tattoo shops by
word of mouth.
When I was an apprentice, feudal customs still existed in Japan. The apprenticeship was one of the feudal customs called
uchideshi in Japanese. Normally, pupils lived
with their masters, and were trained for 5
years. After 5-year training, the pupils worked
independently, and gave the masters money
that he earned for one year. The one-year
service was called oreiboko in Japanese, the
service to express the gratitude towards the
masters. The masters usually told new pupils
about this system, 5-year-training and 1-year
service, when they began the apprenticeship.
I slept at the master’s workplace when
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A Japanese artist works on
the back of a woman
I was a pupil. I wanted to be a great tattoo
artist as soon as possible. In the middle of
the night, I picked up the needles from the
master’s tool box, sat cross-legged and practiced tattooing on my thigh without the ink,
remembering how my master performed. I
continued to practice tattooing without using
the ink. I used a thick bamboo stick for sujibori (outlining), which was about 20 cm long.
The edge of the stick was sharpened, and
6-7 needles were put in order and tied up by
silk thread. The length of the tip of needles
was 3-4 mm. I wanted to workas a tattooist
soon, and practiced incising both my thighs
with the bamboo stick every night after work.
I did not know how to use the tattooing tools
and how to adjust the angles. Sometimes
I penetrated the skin very deeply with the
needles, and the skin bled and swelled. I
could not tattoo by using the bamboo stick
as I wanted. During the daytime I did chores.
If I had no work during the day, I would sit
down on the left side of my master and
watch his work from the distance.
Every customer came to the master by
appointment and got hitoppori. Hitoppori in
Japanese means to get tattooed for 2 hours
each day. If a big tattoo was to be done, the
customer came by every third day. I used
to keep sitting straight for 2 hours and just
watching my master’s hands learn his tattooing skills. The master would say to me,
“I’m not going to lecture you. You steal my
techniques by watching me work.” Watching is the fastest way to learn, rather than
listening to the lecture, if people really want
to learn something. Even though I was full
of enthusiasm, my skills were not improved
easily. I couldn’t see any progress at all.
One day, the master’s wife asked me to
split wood. (Pupils normally call the master’s
wife ane-san or okami-san. The master’s wife
looked so happy when I called her ane-san.
So I called her ane-san during the apprenticeship.) One day while I was splitting wood
in the back yard, I got hotter and hotter. I
was in a sweat, and took off my shirt and
trousers. Ane-san came and asked me to
take a rest. She brought a cup of tea for me.
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There is
nothing to
replace
human skin.
you have to
learn by
using your
own body
Then, Ane-san happened to see my traces of
the needles on the thighs.
She was surprised and said to me, “How
did you get scars on the thighs? Do you practice tattooing by yourself?”
“Yes,” I answered, “but I cannot tattoo well
like the master does.”
“Have you ever seen my husband’s legs and
ankles?” she asked again.
“No.” I said.
She continued, “His whole legs are covered
with tattoos. You know what I mean? He told
me that he practiced tattooing on his legs
with the ink when he was a pupil. That’s why
his legs are all black. He also told me that
a tattooist needs to learn by tattooing his
own body to become a professional tattooist.
There is nothing to replace human skin. So
you have to learn tattooing by using (tattooing) your body.”
After hearing this story, I remembered
the master had tattoos on his arms to wrists
but that I had never seen his bare feet. I
wondered if Ishould practice tattooing with
the ink. Otherwise I couldn’t’t get how the
ink was inserted into the skin. I decided to
master the techniques until my whole body
would be black. “I will never give it up. If I
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Traditional Tebori
being practiced
give it up, I won’t be a true man.” Since then,
I practiced tattooing on any parts of legs from
the thighs to the ankles almost every day. In
order to keep practicing again and again, I
didn’t’ use the ink when practicing tattooing.
Today’s young people never understand
how tough the training was. I used to wake
up 5 a.m., and sweep the whole house inside
and out. I also wiped the floor with a damp
cloth. In winter, my hands were numb with
cold water and got chilblains. My fingers were
swollen. At meals, I was allowed to have only
one cup of soup and one dish. A bowl of rice
was also served. Even though I wanted to
eat more, I could not eat enough because I
was in training. It was right after World War
2. Due to insufficiency of supplies, it was so
hard for us to get enough rice. We would eat
a mixture of rice and barley. I was only 19
and always starving. It was tough experience.
Sometimes the master yelled at me and
even hit me. To endure such treatment needs
patience. Because of such unreasonable
treatment, most pupils gave up and ran away
from the master. Of course, I often wondered
why he hit us. Although I had anger towards
the master, I could not talk back. All I could
do in the feudal period was to obey what the
master said. I was so frustrated that I cried in
bed so many times. The master sometimes
slapped me without any reason. However,
I found the master purposely hit me and
forced me to do overwork for my mental training after I became a tattooist later on. I hated
him so much during the apprenticeship.
Looking back now, I am ashamed of having
had such feelings towards my master.
When I was an apprentice, my master
taught me how to make tattooing needles.
Each tattooist has his own preferred way of
making needles. I put 7 needles in order, and
curve the tips of them. Then I make a fanshape with them. The middle of the needles
is set as the top of the fan, pulling the rest of
them down. The needles should be arranged
like the following figure and soldered up.
When incising thin lines, I use 2 or 3 of 7
needles, which are the closest to the hands,
by adjusting the angle of the needles with
the skin. Normally when tattooing the outline,
I touch the skin with only the middle of the
group of needles.
To tattoo details, some tattooists use a
separate tool consisting of only 3 needles.
But the professional tattooists can tattoo
whatever they want, using only one set of
needles for outlining. They don’t have to use
other tattooing tools. They can tattoo any thin
or thick lines, small circles and so on. The
professional tattooists tattoo the designs on
the skin smoothly, from up to down, down
to up, right to left, left to right. When I need
more ink after tattooing from left to right,
for example, I do kaeshibari, flipping the
needles. Kaeshibari is one of techniques,
which is flipping the other side of the needles
and tattooing by using the rest of the ink on
the other side.
Horimono means “tattoo” in Japanese.
Hori or horu is “to incise” or “to dig” and
mono means “things.” Tattooing is similar
to engraving a sculpture. A tattoo is not a
picture. It is supposed to be appreciated at a
distance of several years. What is expressed
by the tattoo should be clearly recognized
from a distance. If the tattoo is too detailed,
it can hardly be seen from a distance. Like
sculptures, tattoos need to be rough and
drastic to some extent. Such tattoos are
more attractive to people. I can see why
tattoos need to be bold after the work is
finished.
Tattooing by hand, Tebori, requires special techniques. It should be done by puncturing the skin with the needles gently, adjusting the strength of hands. Human skin is very
soft and elastic. As the needles leave the
skin, I can hear the sound, shakki. If I tattoo
smoothly, I can hear a rhythmical sound like
“sha, sha, sha.” I dip the needles in the ink,
MOST PUPILS
GIVE UP
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As long as
I can move
my hands,
I will keep
tattooing.
and tattoo a line about one centimeter long.
This same step is done continuously during
sujibori (outlining).I keep the same speed
(rhythm) to tattoo no matter what kind of designs or shapes, such as circles, squares and
lines, are tattooed. I draw the outlines step
by step on each part of the body, such as the
shoulders, the arms and the back, and finally
finish the art work on the body. Then the full
body tattoo is completed.
For bokashibori (shading), sets of 12
and 13 needles are prepared, and each set
is made in the shape of a fan and soldered.
The set of 12 needles is put under the set
of 13 needles and staggered by pulling the
set of 12 needles back a little bit. When I
do bokashibori , I insert the ink into the skin
at an angle which corresponds to the angle
made by the two sets of needles. I have to
adjust the strength of the stroke by using
both 12-set needles and 13-set needles. If
I use either one or the other, the ink cannot
be inserted into the skin properly. The lower
12-set needles has to be used carefully, like
touching the needles on the skin gently. It’s
very difficult to master how to use those
tattoo needles, especially the lower set
of needles.
Today, we Japanese tattooists order
tattooing needles from the factory. However,
when I was a pupil, I would make tattooing
needles by using the thinnest sewing needles. Many of them did not have good quality
points. One package had 25 needles, and
a half of them were no good. In those days,
we used the ink called sakurazumi. Now we
use baikaboku for tattooing, which is made
of soot of cooking oil. The ink for calligraphy,
which is made of soot of resin, is not suitable
for tattooing, because the color does not
last long.
Those needles were often stolen by
customers. I assume that some other tattooists asked them to pretend to be customers
and to steal my tools, in order to know how
I made the tattooing needles. Although I
understood that they had eager feelings to
learn professional tattooing, I was so angry
with the attitudes. When I was tattooing, I put
my tool box beside me. While I was away (going to bathroom, for example), they stole my
needles. It is not difficult to steal them. After
all, I prepare the necessary needles only
when I need them. I usually lock the door
of my studio after work. Electric machines,
color inks, my drawings (about 120 designs)
for the back have all been stolen at various
times. The tattoo designs were especially
important for me. I had drawn many designs
and collected them for a long time. I am
so frustrated whenever I remember those
incidents and think how much time I spent
on the drawings.
Tattooists who have not been apprenticed and trained by tattoo masters do not
know the reasons or meanings of the traditional designs. For example, there are four
seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter)
in Japan. The seasons should be expressed
in tattoo art as well. Real Japanese tattoo
artists express each season on the skin.
However, the untrained tattooists do not
know traditional thoughts on Japanese art.
The untrained tattooists draw a snake and
cherry blossoms, but this is a wrong way in
tradition. When cherry trees begin to bloom
in March in Japan, the snake still hibernates
under the ground. So the snake and cherry
blossom cannot be seen in the same period.
In other words, it does not make any sense if
the snake and cherry blossoms are
drawn together.
Some tattooists draw a carp climbing up
the waterfall together with peonies. Actually, we can see the carp climbing up the
waterfall from the late September to October
in Japan. It is supposed to go with maple
leaves, not peonies. (The symbol of maple
leaves refers to the autumn.) When hutatsugoi (twin carp) and huhugoi (a married couple
carp) are drawn, two carp (one carp for
the arm, for example) can go with peonies,
because we do not have to express seasons
in these cases. There are several traditional
combinations: Karajishi, which is a combination Shishi (lion) with botan (peonies), and
ryu (dragon) with kiku (chrysanthemum)
and menchirashi (men means “a mask,”
and chirashi or chirasu means “to scatter”)
with cherry blossoms. Those images are
particular sets for Japanese traditional tattoo
designs.
I am very happy with my job and love it.
As long as I can move my hands, I will keep
tattooing. I thank my master very much.
Without his teachings, I could not have been
a tattooist. I will never forget the gratitude
towards the master forever.
forever
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