While in the United States, we primarily only catch wind of local and national news, from time to time an international story breaks that takes on the whole world. The latter is the case when it comes to a Yakuza arrest that took place in Thailand just this past week.
Throughout Eastern Asia, the Yakuza are an organization known for their criminal involvement and tattoo rituals. They’re considered to be the pioneers of 20th century irezumi and have influenced much of the global tattoo world we know today. However, as Asia’s top mafia they’ve also caused controversy in tattoo perception within these cultures because of societies association with ink and crime. Yazuka members by and large keep their ink hidden under wraps, so not to blow their cover and risk incarceration. Yet, in our modern age of social media, remaining under the radar isn’t always an option.
Take a look at what happened when one Yakuza members tattoo went viral on social media and caused him to blow a cover that was 14 years in the making.
