Flesh-eating diseases. Gang members trapped by tattoos. Japanese CEO forces horimono on workers.

The week’s tattoo headlines were fodder for the horror genre. For some, a welcome relief from the sappy stories of granny getting her first tramp stamp. For others, a pox on all that is tattoo couture in our body art revolution. For me, I like a bit of shady with my highbrowness. It’s sexy and dangerous. And flashing gooey tissue via flesh-eating bacteria could be the new naughty for vag exposing pop stars. You heard it here first.

Today I offer a rundown of the international tattoo news, written in drama queen Fox News/White House Press Secretary style. Ring the alarm.

Three Men Get Flesh-Eating Disease After Samoan Tattoo
The curse of the Samoan pe’a.



For hundreds of years, people have lain immobile with their skin stretched while the hand-tapped Samoan pe’a marked their cultural, even spiritual, rite of passage. Like machine tattooing, risk of infection exists if the tattooer does not employ proper hygiene or the person tattooed does not follow after-care instructions. It’s supposed to be a celebratory event. But for one 24-year-old New Zealand man, the tattoo almost turned deadly. [Strategic pause.] After having his stomach, buttocks and back tattooed via the traditional technique using a boar's tooth comb, the man contracted necrotising fasciitis—the flesh-eating disease, which chewed away a quarter of his body tissue. He’s been in intensive care and undergoing numerous skin grafts. It ain’t pretty. The Dominion Post reports:

He wasn’t the only one. Two other men were also admitted to the hospital with the disease, although less advanced, and a fourth man was diagnosed with cellulitis, an acute skin inflammation linked to an infected wound. All the men reportedly had traditional Samoan tattoos in the past six months, two from tattooist Sua Vitale Fa'alavelave who has agreed to stop working while an investigation is underway.

Defending his hygiene practices, a spokesperson for the tattooist said that Sua has done hundreds of tattoos, and the boar's tooth comb used was always washed in a sterilizing liquid. This prompted questions over whether the guidelines for traditional tattoos are adequate; however, New Zealand’s Ministry of Health defended the rules saying that it has been consulting with Pacific communities and traditional practitioners to "bring these guidelines to their attention" since 2002, when a man died of blood poisoning directly linked to his pe’a.

One News has a short video of Samoan tattooing where one wearer of the pe’a explains, "It's a big thing for our culture and it's always been there....people have passed away through it because of infections...That's a responsibility that people know." [Insert fair and balanced culture-mocking quip here.]

Gang Members Trapped By Tattoos
In the US, another rite of passage leads to death.



Texas’s Channel 10 offers up a two-part report on gang tattoos. The report claims “tattoos make breaking away from the gang lifestyle almost impossible. They reveal who you've fought, where you've served time and the crimes you've committed.” In an online video segment, one ex-gangbanger gives his tale about moving away from his old hood but trouble still finding him because of his tattoos, especially the gang marks on his hands.

The tattoos tell stories of their own. Channel 10 had Gang Officer Gus Vaquera explain their symbolism:

A video on the symbolism accompanies the article. For more on gang tattoo symbols, check out this Wiki entry or the book Gangs and Their Tattoos.

The report does include info on state programs where ex-gang members can get free tattoo removal.

Not reported in the article is my own personal group of roughnecks: Inked Inc. Check out how we roll in our stronghold of conventionality.

The corporate thang can be just as hard as street thuggin. Just see the next headline.

Japanese CEO Forces Horimono on Workers
The mark of the Yakuza branded on health food company workers.

Horimono, traditional Japanese tattoos, may have it’s origins in the late Edo period but today in Japan they largely bare the mark of the criminal underworld. Perhaps this is why one former health food company president from Osaka forced his employees to get tattoos when they threatened to leave the company. No real reason is know as the ex-boss has denied the allegations. Other reasons could be kinky. [Insert fair and balanced culture-mocking quip here.]

Marisa_DiMattia is a lawyer and editor of Needled.com, a blog on tattoo art and culture.