IN BRIEF

Akimitsu Takagi (1920-1995) is one of the greatest Japanese crime writers of the 20th century.

Born in Aomori in northern Japan, Akimitsu Takagi became one of Japan’s most popular authors in the period following the end of the Second World War. Born into a family of doctors, a scientist trained at Kyoto University with the country’s elite, Takagi left the aeronautical sector after the defeat and invested himself in writing in an unusual way, on the advice of a fortune-teller. His interest in tattooing was a determining factor in the plot of his first novel: Shisei Satsujin Jiken. Published in 1948, this investigation into the murders of tattooed people in devastated post-war Tokyo was an immediate success. It launched his career. When he died in 1995, he left behind more than 250 stories. In Japan, his books sold several million copies.

(Akimitsu Takagi at home, c. 1955 – © Takagi A. coll./DR)

INTRODUCTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Takagi came into contact with the Japanese tattoo milieu in Tokyo after 1945, while researching for his first novel, Shisei Satsujin Jiken (Irezumi in French, The Tattoo Murder [1] in English). Tattooing is at the heart of the book’s plot, which features the murders of tattooed people, victims of cursed motifs, in a Tokyo in ruins where a snakeskinned femme fatale, a collector of tattooed skins and a club of tattoo enthusiasts attached to the spirit of the old capital meet.

A PRIVILEGED WITNESS

Thanks to the success of his first novel, which focused on traditional Japanese tattooing (irezumi), Takagi broadened his contacts in the closed world of tattoo enthusiasts and artists. He deepened his passion by visiting the workshops of master tattoo artists, discovering a clandestine world rich in tradition. This milieu remains largely unknown to the Japanese general public, due to the ban on tattooing in Japan, in force from 1872 to 1948, a period of almost 80 years.
As a privileged observer, Takagi quickly became a key witness to this marginal culture. His work documenting the art of tattooing in Tokyo makes him an essential figure in understanding the evolution of tattooing in twentieth-century Japan.

TATTOOERS, TATTOED AND TRADITIONAL PATTERNS

Takagi photographs the greatest masters of traditional Japanese tattooing of his time. Among them: Horiuno II, Horiuno III, Horigorō II, Horigorō III, and Horiyoshi II, the famous tattooist from the Azabu district of Tokyo. These emblematic figures of irezumi perpetuate an ancient, virtuoso and deeply codified art.
During his visits to the workshops, Takagi also documents the tattooed works visible on the bodies of his customers. He immortalises tattoos with spectacular traditional motifs, renowned for their aesthetic richness and symbolic significance. These unique creations are a continuation of an ancient artistic heritage specific to the Japanese capital.
During the Edo era (1603-1868), figurative tattoos became widespread among the working classes. This period saw the rise of Japanese tattooing inspired by ukiyo-e prints, with themes drawn from mythology, folklore and war stories. The success of polychrome prints contributed directly to the emergence of these iconic motifs, which have become inseparable from horimono / irezumi.

WOMEN IN THE EYE OF THE LENS

And then there are the tattooed women. Their presence in Takagi’s photographs is unexpected. This world is traditionally represented by men. By revealing this invisible part of Japanese tattooists’ clientele, Takagi offers a rare and precious testimony. Her photographs challenge the preconceptions that tattooing in Japan is an exclusively male art form – an idea reinforced by the study of ancient Japanese prints, which almost exclusively depict tattooed men.
Takagi’s particular interest in tattooed women is rooted in her own personal history. It also sheds light on the genesis of his passion for irezumi. As a child, he accompanied his mother to the sentō – the Japanese public baths – where he discovered for the first time the body of a tattooed woman. This vision, both intimate and striking, left a deep impression on him. It left a lasting impression on him. It also shaped his outlook. For Takagi, tattooing is art.
His photographic approach reveals the beauty, strength and complexity of these tattooed bodies – including those of women, who have long remained in the shadows.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE MEMORY OF AN EPHEMERAL ART FORM

Through photography, Takagi not only satisfies his obsession with tattooing, but also carries out a vital work of memory. Tattooing is essentially a fleeting art, so how can we appreciate the skills of the old masters? How can their technical and aesthetic achievements be passed on to new generations? Photography offered a pertinent solution to the real threat to this art form: oblivion. And without memory, what kind of art history is there? And without a history, what recognition can master tattoo artists expect? Don’t their works testify to an excellence that could enable them, like any other Japanese craftsman dedicated to bringing the soul of Japanese art to life, to rise to the rank of ‘living national treasure’?

[1] The Tattoo Murder, Pushkin Press, 2022.