Collectible tattoos
For some days now I have been receiving suggestions about Dr. Masaichi Fukushi‘s
tattoo collection, belonging to Tokyo University Pathology Department. I
am willing to write about it, because the topic is more multifaceted
than it looks.
Said collection is both well-known and somewhat obscure.
Born in 1878, Dr. Fukushi was studying the formation of nevi on the skin around 1907, when his research led him to examine the correlation between the movement of melanine through vascularized epidermis and the injection of pigments under the skin in tattoos. His interest was further fueled by a peculiar discovery: the presence of a tattoo seemed to prevent the signs of syphilis from appearing in that area of the body.
Born in 1878, Dr. Fukushi was studying the formation of nevi on the skin around 1907, when his research led him to examine the correlation between the movement of melanine through vascularized epidermis and the injection of pigments under the skin in tattoos. His interest was further fueled by a peculiar discovery: the presence of a tattoo seemed to prevent the signs of syphilis from appearing in that area of the body.
In 1920 Dr. Fukushi entered the Mitsui
Memorial Hospital, a charity structure where treatment was offered to
the most disadvantaged social classes. In this environment, he came in
contact with many tattooed persons and, after a short period in Germany,
he continued his research on the formation of congenital moles at
Nippon Medical University. Here, often carrying out autopsies, he
developed an original method of preserving tattooed epidermis he took
from corpses; he therefore began collecting various samples, managing to
stretch the skin so that it could be exhibited inside a glass frame.
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