The literal translation of the word Gaman 我慢 is “Patience”.
It acts as the cornerstone by which all tattoo clients rely on.

・The patience to save the money for your tattoo

・The patience to commit to the time it takes to get tattooed

・The patience to not show your suffering during the tattoo

・The patience to be still and not move during the tattoo

・The patience to be quiet in the silence of your tattoo session

・The patience to keep getting tattooed consistently until you’re finished

・The patience to not show your tattoo until it’s completion

・The patience to stop when the tattoo has reached balance.

Irezumi is a symbol of patience. It embodies the highest ideals for a man to achieve.
To not show weakness in the face of adversity. To remain strong and see things through till the end. To not be foolish and Impulsive in life.

All men should strive for such ideals.

A Iki man was respected among men in the Edo period. Iki is one of the aesthetic sense of the people at that time. It would take a long time to explain iki, so I will post a new article about it near future.

In those days, it was considered shameful to show one’s weakness to others such as suffering, especially among men. It was said that a man would be ruined if he got up from the pain. Therefore, since who willingly got the tattoo, no one will respect if who shows own suffer and doesn’t keep going to the end of the tattooing process. Because it is not cool to run away or to be defeated by oneself.

Today, the concept of Iki has almost disappeared, but the spirit of Iki still remains in many Japanese men.
I hope that you will keep these historical backgrounds in mind when you get a tattoo.