Tattoos-Body Art

She then turned her attention to her stomach, arms and back and before long was addicted to body art.

In an interview, Miss Gnuse said although the ink did not stop her skin from blistering, it covered up the scars and allowed her to be exposed to the sun.

I did this for the reason of covering scarring from the blisters. They get as deep as three degree burn,' she said.

Centuries ago in the days of the Shogun, Japan's authorities would mark criminals with tattoos to distinguish them from the rest of the population.

These highly visible tattoos usually took the form of a black ring around the arm; with rings added as convictions increased.

factions are patriarchal in nature but women are integral parts of Japan's gangland society.

Sometimes these women use tattoos to demonstrate their affiliation with the gang lifestyle; in other cases it's done to show loyalty and obedience to member they are involved

One prominent - and prominently tattooed - woman with Yakuza ties is Shoko Tendo

traditional Japanese motifs and brilliant colors.

Japanese society is slowly losing its prejudice against tattoos, tattooing and those who are tattooed.

Young people are embracing tattoos as a form of pure body art with no Yakuza connotations and the influence of Western celebrities, who have no historical bias against tattooing, tends to make tattoos more acceptable.