The Tattooer is the first publish work by Junichiro Tanizaki, one of the major authors in the modern Japanese tradition. In the story, a tattoo artist inscribes a giant spider on the body of a beautiful young woman. Afterwards, the woman's beauty takes on a demonic, compelling power, in which eroticism is combined with sado-masochism. The story foreshadows many of the archetypes which reappear in many of Tanizaki's later works.
The Tattooer is the first publish work by Junichiro Tanizaki, one of the major authors in the modern Japanese tradition. In the story, a tattoo artist inscribes a giant spider on the body of a beautiful young woman. Afterwards, the woman's beauty takes on a demonic, compelling power, in which eroticism is combined with sado-masochism. The story foreshadows many of the archetypes which reappear in many of Tanizaki's later works.
