Eventually, the Japanese tattoos came to posses not only a cultural note, but also a social and political one. From the late seventeenth century up to the latter half of the nineteenth century, many middle class people used tattoos to express their social and political sentiments.
Everyone from the office workers of that time, to the farm hands and the street merchants began placing high value on the political statements that were expressed through Japanese tattoo designs. Even the upper class members of society looked upon tattoos with high regard, and many shows were conducted to showcase the craftsmanship of many tattoo artists.
In general, Japanese tattoo designs are intricately linked to the cultural values of the people. Before full body tattoos developed, the back was the sole place where these skin art works were rendered. Often the themes were the epics and folktales of the Japanese people themselves, which mean that in the past, a Japanese body filled with tattoos can actually contain the history of the people itself. Eventually, full body tattoos became popular and Japanese tattoo designs began to be used to show another aspect of the values that were important to the Japanese, aesthetics itself. Today, Japanese inspired tattoo designs are popular because of the designs that are distinct to Japanese artists or those that have been heavily influenced by the Japanese, seen by such motifs as the carp and other water elements.
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