Dr. Masaichi Fukushi was a Japanese physician and pathologist famous for his interesting and macabre collection of human skin, specifically tattooed human skin. Masaichi who was also an Emeritus Professor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo developed an extreme fascination with tattoos, leading him to become a passionate collector of tattooed human skin from the dead. As morbid as this may sound, Fukushi was respected for this unusual hobby that he and his son Fukushi Katsunari are known in Japan as “Irezumi Hakase”, the Japanese word for “Dr. Tattoo”. Before getting into details of how Fukushi developed an interest in tattooed human skin and how far he was able to go with it, it is imperative to note that tattoos in Japan are part of a broader subculture called Irezumi, a style of iconography with its own unique images and motifs.
Early Life
Dr. Masaichi Fukushi was born on the 30th of January 1878 and grew up with an interest in medicine. He studied at the Tokyo Imperial University of Medicine and then went on to study in Germany. After completing his education, Masaichi founded the Japanese Pathological Society in 1914 at the Medical college Kanazawa University Kanazawa. The focus of his research was initially that syphilis caused aortitis and thyroid disease.
]Dr. Fukushi worked for a long time at the Mitsui Memorial Hospital in Tokyo, which mainly helped the poorer and lower classes. At the time, these classes were essentially the kind of people who were also getting tattooed in Japan such as gangsters, construction workers, and other day laborers. He however developed an interest in tattoos when he noticed that the tattoo ink destroyed the skin damage left by syphilis.
Becoming Doctor Tattoo
Dr. Masaichi Fukushi began his tattoo research fully in 1907, meeting people with various tattoos. His biggest interest was bodysuits (Full bodied tattoos often associated with the yakuza). He paid people who were willing to donate their skin after they’d died for his research. He even funded tattoos for people who couldn’t afford them, so long as they were willing to donate as well.
This fascination also lead to him forming friendships with his tattooed patients and helped form the Tattoo League of Japan. The League would meet in public bathhouses to show off their body art to each other and the doctor. Masaichi as a pathological doctor led autopsies on Tattooed corpses, removed the skin, and did research on methods to preserve the skin.
Two different methods were used to preserve the doctors ‘hides’: wet and dry. The skin was gently peeled away from the body and the nerves and tissues were scraped off. It was then stretched out to dry, or with the wet method, it was preserved by immersion in either glycerin or formalin. The tattooed skins are then displayed either flat, generally in a frame, or on a mannequin in a case.
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The Human Skin Collection.
At the height of his research, Masaichi collected 2000 tattooed human skins and documented them with over 3000 photos. However, much of this collection was lost during air raid bombings in 1945. Masaichi also lost more of his skin on a trip to America. Apparently, he’d been carrying them in a suitcase in Chicago and the suitcase was stolen.
Despite the losses, at least 105 pieces remained intact and Masaichi set up a display in the Medical Pathology Museum of Tokyo University. These pieces had been outsourced in the early 1940s in an air raid shelter. Since they were protected from the effects of war they survived the bombings. These skins are all that remains of his collection and they are not available to the public.
Don Ed Hardy is one of the few lucky foreigners to have seen the collection in 1983 at the invitation of Dr. Katsunari Fukushi, Masaichi’s son, who also continued the collection. At the time there were over 3,000 photographs of tattoos, over 100 tattooed human skins, and notes and records from Masaichi.
Death and Legacy
Dr. Masaichi Fukushi passed away on the 3rd of June 1956. However, prior to his death, his collection of skins quickly made him famous in Japanese tattoo culture. Tattooed individuals found the doctor’s fascination just fine, even if most people often found it offputting or scary. He was well-respected in the Irezumi community and invited to different tattoo competitions. His subjects were all willing participants, allowing the doctor and his son Fukushi Katsunari to preserve their art after death.
Also thanks to Dr. Masaichi’s innovation, Tattoo preservation has become one of the cultures and customs of the 21st century. Many people today memorialize their loved ones by preserving their tattoos. Numerous countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada have companies that specializes in offering this service The question regarding the legality of the preservation of human skin after death either for their loved ones or for public display, differs from country to country.
