One thing that has been on my mind is the impact of Buddhism on traditional Japanese tattooing. In short you could say that they go hand in hand. For me Buddhism means bettering yourself and the lives of others around you. One of the most important factors for me has that how you shouldn't think about your future too much. Because then you start to create possibilities. And that is what they most likely are. Possible outcomes, but not something that will necessarily happen. For example I used worry a lot about my mom. I had this idea deep in my psyche that I could still save her.

There really isn't anything vital wrong with her, but I had learned to do so because as far as I can remember she was ill in someways for working too much. Also because I didn't have a father, I myself took the role of the so called "protector". It took my years and years to finally accept that one day she will die. As all of us. Nothing can be done to stop that. So enjoy the now. I think that Buddhism helped me alot in that aspect. So I have started trying to think in the now more. Or not think, but just live in it. Not past, how things were, or the future, how things might be. But just now. And then when I followed this idea I found a interesting (at least to me) aspect in traditional Japanese tattooing, that is also known as Horimono.

Something that is as deeply rooted to Buddhism as Horimono is, there appears to be a lot of choises that are made, which solify something for eternity. Big words, but there is a reasoning too. Most back pieces that you see are about a certain motive. You can have a kannon, a kitsune or a hannya mask for example. Then there is most likely background of waves and clouds. And in Horimono the background is as vital as the images that they bring out. I will quote Horimatsu from his blog post (http://horimatsu.blogspot.com/2008/06/koi.html), where he talks about a koi full body suit.


The water used for background should of course be carried out in blacks and greys. Think about it - sure, blue water could go very nice with a red Koi, but try to imagine a full body suit with all blue background! Very hectic! The backgrounds (wind, water) used in Irezumi resembles traditional Japanese ink painting, and helps bring stability and good contrast to a piece. Personally I think the background is more important than the main image itself, at least in a graphical sense.

Here is a "WATER BACKGROUND STUDY" done by tattoo artist Clark North (www.myspace.com/clarktattoo). I really like it and it captures what I was thinking.




Of course you have the cherry blossoms in there too, but I see them just as floating around and they don't have to hold a deep meaning. I link the background to nothingness. The present moment where you just are and haven't created anything out of it (like a kitsune for example). The Buddhist aspect is strong in Horimono. But still. You don't really see any traditional Japanese back pieces where there is just the background as the focus point.  Why is that so?