Previously, I introduced some fun facts about tattoos in this article. This is the second installment!
In recent years, tattoos seem to be more widely accepted than they were a while ago. Among young people, the number of those who view them as a form of fashion also appears to be increasing yearly. In this article, I will share some facts about tattoos from around the world that you probably didn't know until now.
Oldest Person to Get a Tattoo
An Englishman named Jack Reynolds reportedly got his first tattoo at the age of 104. He currently holds the title of the oldest person to get their first tattoo. And by adding a new tattoo every year on his birthday, he breaks his own Guinness World Record each year.
He also sets several other Guinness records annually, such as "Oldest person to ride a roller coaster" (non-inverted attractions) and "Oldest person to ride a zip line."
Tattooed Skin Can Be Donated
If you view tattoos as art and are drawn to the idea of them being exhibited, you can donate the tattooed areas of your skin to a museum after your death. In fact, some tattooed body parts have been donated to a museum in Australia. However, the preservation and management of human skin are challenging, with high hurdles like cleanly peeling off the skin and storing it until it's fully hardened (as it tends to shrink), making it not very practical.
While it might conjure grotesque images, like the skinning practices of the Sengoku period, I can understand the desire to donate body art, meticulously created over a long time and at great expense, to a museum where many people can see it, just as there are various burial methods after one's death.
Did you know that Russian prisoners, unable to obtain any materials in prison, sometimes made ink by mixing soot with urine?
Similarly, the origins of traditional tattoos associated with the navy and sailors, familiar in American Traditional, also involved using gunpowder and urine as ink instead of sumi ink.
Tattoos Used as Punishment
Emperor Caligula of the Roman era is said to have punished offenders by tattooing them. Since tools and proper conditions were not available at that time, getting a tattoo was accompanied by incredibly intense pain. This punishment ceased with the change of emperors.
In Japan, the history is also old, with patterns resembling tattoos found on Jomon period clay figurines, and descriptions of tattoos in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Around the Edo period, taking advantage of this characteristic, there was a punishment called "Irezumi Kei" (tattoo punishment). With the prosperity of Edo, the number of crimes increased. To deter crime, criminals were tattooed. It is uncertain whether this punishment, which instantly identified someone as a criminal, served as an effective deterrent.
The Most Tattooed Man in the World
Lucky Diamond Rich, from New Zealand, is currently the most tattooed person in the world. It is said that he spent over 1,000 hours getting tattooed on his eyelids, the upper part of his ear canals, and even his gums. His ink coverage is an astonishing 200% of his body surface area.
After being a circus performer, he is now active as a street artist and performer. He specializes in dangerous acts such as sword swallowing, juggling chainsaws, and riding a 3-meter unicycle. Combined with his appearance, he is constantly the center of attention.
Since he gets tattoos on top of existing tattoos, he reportedly gets darker each year.
Needle Vibration Rate
When injecting ink into the skin, the needles attached to the oscillating machine can vibrate 50 to 3,000 times per minute. With technological advancements, this number will likely continue to increase.
Longest Tattoo Session
On September 12, 2019, Aleksandr Pakostin recorded the longest tattoo session in history in Vologda, Russia. The record was 60 hours and 30 minutes.
I hope you found the worldwide records and trivia about tattoos interesting and appealing.
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Reference
This article is a translation and rearrangement of this page.
