Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas for his art. The image of the large demonic spider that he emblazons across Otsuya's back marks her as the property of another man, radically altering her relationships with all around her as her personality seems to transform under its influence.
Cinematography
Spider tattoo reveal: one of Japanese cinema's most haunting images.
Acting
Ayako Wakao's silent metamorphosis from victim to something colder.
Direction
Masumura's tight 86 minutes—no fat, all venom.
Director
Yasuzō Masumura
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Irezumi were historically used to mark criminals; Masumura weaponizes this history to interrogate who really owns a woman's body.
Ayako Wakao allegedly spent hours daily in makeup for the tattoo, which was painted fresh for each shoot—no prosthetics in 1966.
JP
