If you think about Japanese tattoos as a mark of an ancient culture, you're wrong.Contrary to popular belief, they have reached their zenith in the 18th century century. This unfortunately means that the samurai never had tattoos. They are still fresh, but because they had strange hairstyles and they used to chop off members.
Of course, there's a legitimate question. What makes these damn tattoos so special anyway. The Horimono Irezumi or tattoos, as known at the time were very different in concept from their Western counterparts. Were more or less almost like paintings depicting scenes with the gods, which became popular at this time. The folly of all, probably would have come by chance or rather forced Japan has finally decided to end its isolation. This means that Japanese tattoos have begun to spread like wildfire in the western world.
