渡辺綱は平安時代中期の武将で、源頼光に仕える四天王の筆頭としてその勇名を轟かせた。ここに描かれるのは“一条戻橋”として知られる一幕。戻橋にて美しい女性に化け、綱を騙した鬼がその正体を現して襲いかかった緊迫した場面である。
Watanabe no Tsuna was a warload in the middle of the Heian period, and made his name as the head of the best four samurais who served Minamoto no Yorimitsu. This irezumi design depicts a scene known as “Ichijo Modoribashi”. In this tense scene, a demon who disguised himself as a beautiful woman, revealed his true identity, and attacked Tsuna at Modoribashi bridge.
鬼は綱の髪を掴み愛宕山の方角へと連れ去ろうとするが、綱が源家相伝の名刀“髭切”で腕を切り落とすと、いずこかへと逃げ去っていったという。この他、綱は大江山の酒呑童子討伐や羅生門の鬼退治など様々な武功で知られる。このように幾度も鬼を討ち払った綱の家紋“三つ星に一文字”（ここでは着物の柄に見ることができる）には魔除けの力があると信じられるようになり、それのみがワンポイントで彫られることもある。
The demon grabbed Tsuna’s hair and tried to take him away to Mt. Atago, but when Tsuna cut off his arm with the famous sword “Higekiri”, the demon ran away. In addition, Tsuna is known in a variety of other tales such as subduing Shuten-doji at Mt. Oe and exterminating the demon at Rashomon gate. From this, it is believed that the family crest of Watanabe, “three stars above one straight line” (here you can see it as his kimono pattern) has an amulet effect, and it is sometimes tattooed as a one-point.
また、雲を呼ぶ龍と風を起こす虎を対峙させる構図は、覇者や豪傑の表現として戦国武将や禅僧の間で好まれた題材で、刺青においても非常に高い人気があるのは周知であろう。胸から腿にかけてダイナミックに描かれたこの龍虎は、背の大作にも劣らぬすさまじいばかりの迫力で観る者を圧倒する。
In addition, the composition of a dragon which is known for creating the clouds and a tiger that is said to be a creator of the winds was a favorite theme among Sengoku warlords and Zen monks as an expression of champions and heroes. This dragon and tiger, which fully cover the front panels of the body in dynamic fashion, create a tremendous force that is as powerful as the masterpiece on the back and overwhelm the viewer.
