“Tattoos exude pain and pleasure all at the same time.” is a quote by Chester Bennington that can summarize a major theme within the story in a few short words. In “The Tattooer” by Tanizaki, the story follows a plot in which two complex characters are destined to interact with each other each by a changing of fate. The two major characters are the artist Seikichi, who once studied as a ukiyo-e painter, but fell out of higher society as he became a tattoo artist. The other character is Maiko, an apprentice geisha who was shy and wasn’t to sure about herself. Seikichi wanted to use Maiko to become the epitome of his desires and pleasures. In the story, during a painful tattooing process, the roles shift which in turn follows with the once dominant Seikichi succumbed to the ‘weaker’ Maiko who then later blossomed and broke out of her once timid shell.
The reputation of Toyokuni also known as Kunisada is one of reputable skill of the ukiyo-e. Once the young artist, who formally studied at “Toyokuni and Kunisada” (Tanizaki, 107) as a ukiyo-e painter status depleted once he became a tattoo artist. During the time the story is set at, tattooing was not considered a form of art, but of heathenism. However, the ukiyo was also a place where his form of art was respected, through his canvases who wanted to be more attractive to their others. Tanizaki does not literally address why Seikichi quit ukiyo-e painting, but his personal satisfaction of his sadistic nature brings the reason for turning to tattoo artistry into light. Seikichi drew satisfaction from tattooing his subjects, because he could inflict pain and watch them squirm. The idea of having this power and control of the young men who came to him gave him pleasure. The ability to create works and find a way to sneak in his sadistic pleasure into the process is what attracted Seikichi to go down a different path and find a new kind of art to pursue within the ukiyo. His cool and sadistic nature towards his clients came from the bitter response of being shunned.
One of the major themes projected in the story is sadistic nature. The psychological nature of a sadistic person by definition is “a disorder which is characterized by cruel, aggressive, manipulative, and demeaning behavior directed towards others.” (Psycnet). A sadistic person lacks concern for other individuals and derives pleasure from harming or humiliating others. Seikichi embodied the role of a sadist in the story due to his secret pleasure of inflicting pain on the men he tattooed. Similarities between Seikichi and a sadist is that the hunger for power becomes overbearing and leads them to have an inclination to feed said “hunger” in an effort to shut out the desire. Seikichi also displays another trait of a sadistic person which would be narcissism. In his mind, the excruciating pain inflicted to his customers is in honor of letting such a talented artist adorn their bodies.
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Obsession also plays a key role in the story due to his endless search for a canvas to paint and exude the pain of his needles on while also making it look beautiful. His obsession of finding the perfect canvas led him to drug and enslave Maiko in order to give her a tattoo in which she refused previously. These actions influenced by his obsession dives into the more hidden but promonet theme which was infatuation and lust hidden by the theme of love. When giving Maiko the tattoo, Seikichi felt as though he was torturing himself as he applied the needle to the young girl’s skin. “At every thrust of his needle Seikichi gave a heavy sigh and felt as if he had stabbed his own heart” (Tanizaki, 83). This alludes to Seikichi possessing a caring nature such as love or compassion but it is actually a disguise for his lust and infatuation for the urge to tattoo a women rather than a man and to have a beautiful canvas.
Though both characters are complex in their own way, Seikichi was an embodiment of the dark realities and aspects of human nature rather than Maiko who can be seen as a metaphor for “All beautiful things must die.” At the end of the story, Maiko wakes up after her drug induced coma and with her newly developed personality, she says “I can bare anything for the sake of beauty.” ( Tanizaki, 84), then reveals her tattoo to him once more which then burst into flames due to the light outside. This can be interpreted as her clean skin being her innocence which Seikichi took when he tattooed a black widow on her back.
The tattoo bursting into flames could be seen as a metaphor for his past transgressions for hurting other men and how his “beautiful” creation was destroyed with the light shining on his secret desire. In the end of all things, his need and desire to work on a beautiful women led him to be consumed by his own creation and in the end exposed him of his yearning need to inflict pain on the one canvas which turned the tables by hurting him to tattoo her and Maiko taking the once sought to pleasure and making it no longer enjoyable. Her beauty and his art both go in the flames because like many things , all beautiful things must die in order to pay for the ugliness brought before it.
