The Long Shadow Of Yakuza Tattoos

How a Caste Signifier Lives On in Japan

Yakuza Bosses Ishida (Shun Sugata) and Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida) in “Tokyo Vice”

In the West’s present era of ubiquitous tattooing—when even office dorks and suburban moms are inked, often elaborately— it’s hard to remember that a mere half century ago tattoos were rarely seen in the general population. In America and Europe, the practice traditionally belon…