Giorgio Fragiacomo’s Tattoo Images
When my friend Giorgio Fragiacomo visited me in Japan, in 2022, he took some outstanding photos at a Yakuza tattooist studio.
In Giorgio’s own words: “The sporadic flashes of the colours red and green on the human body come to life in the darkened room. The image has a forbidding quality that guides the viewer’s eyes directly to the flesh of the man, accentuating the man’s vulnerability in his nakedness as well as the man’s strength. A strength that becomes apparent only when it dawns on us that he must have endured considerable pain to achieve the desired effect. It should be noted that to the Yakuza full-body tattoos are not unlike a uniform, a way of acknowledging one’s colleague.”
Giorgio Fragiacomo, an accomplished amateur photographer has travelled extensively to capture the essence of tattooing.
Giorgio Fragiacomo is an advocate for the LGBTQ community.
Giorgio uses his photography to favourably highlight the transgender movement and support gender equality.
Georgio’s Yakuza-inspired photography reminds me of my own tattoo adventure in Japan, back in 2013.
On my first-ever visit to Japan as an exchange student, I stumbled onto a seedy-looking back street in Hirakata, near Kansai Gaidai University where I was studying at the time.
I noticed the darkened tattoo shop immediately. The ominous-looking Harley Davidson motorbikes parked outside, incongruous in a Japanese residential area and the small cluster of black SUVs with blackened windows were a dead giveaway.
I already had tattoos made in London and Denmark and as an avid collector, I sought to add to my collection.
I walked into the dimly lit store gingerly. I saw no one at first when suddenly a man of about forty came in from a door behind a small desk that led to the back room. The man who was covered in tattoos greeted me unenthusiastically and asked me what I wanted in Japanese. I pointed at the wall which was strewn with photos of real people sporting unequivocally Yakuza-styled tattoos.
The man looked at me sceptically at first then seeing the look of determination on my face he turned and called out for someone over his shoulder. A young man in his mid-twenty entered the room through the same door as the first man and stared at me pointedly. The two men spoke briefly.
The rest is history.
I had a large dragon tattooed on my back that took three weeks to complete. After that, I had Sakura flowers in bloom tattooed on my side and a tacky garter tattooed on my thigh to cover an old scar.
Whilst I was being tattooed, I was able to ascertain from the young tattooist that as a member of the “Yakuza family,” he wasn’t allowed to go out on dates and had no independence whatsoever. The young man went on to tell me that his duties included looking after the children of the head of the household and that he eats every single meal with the family without exception. What seemed like self-imposed imprisonment to me was a source of immense pride to him. The young man felt a deep sense of acceptance and belonging in his surroundings and was very content with his living arrangement despite the many restrictions.
Once my tattoos were completed one of my fellow students asked me to introduce him to the tattooist. I did so gladly, but I quickly realised my mistake. I had to stop my immature classmate from unabashedly asking intrusive questions about the Yakuza protocol. I could see that the tattooist was uncomfortable talking about it with a virtual stranger, but that did not deter my classmate from continuing to ask inappropriate questions. I eventually pointed out to my classmate that he was obviously wasting his time as the tattooist stonewalled and blamed his reticence on the language barrier.
What is apparent is that the Yakuza world and tattoos are inextricably connected in Japan. The tattooist is not necessarily a Yakuza member but offers a service, not unlike a western tailor might offer a suit to gentlemen.
The full-body tattoos that adorn the Yakuza can be loosely described as a suit of decorative armour. In ancient Celtic culture, for instance, a full-body tattoo had the primaeval connotation of war paint.
Another observation is that the Yakuza are not averse to discussing their traditions with foreigners, what they object to is discussing the Yakuza lifestyle with strangers bent on sensationalizing their culture.
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