Kamenokō & Nagasode & Munewari & Nagazubon. The four major components of a Soushinbori (総身彫り, Japanese full-body tattoo).

Kamenokō — "tortoise shell" — is the back: the great foundation panel that runs from the neck down past the buttocks to the top of the thighs, stopping just before it wraps around the sides so it sits on you like a shell. It's always tattooed first, and everything else is built to flow out from it.

Nagasode — "long sleeves" — takes the arms all the way to the wrist, exactly like a shirt worn full-length, as opposed to the shorter sleeves that stop at the elbow so a collar and cuffs can hide the work.

Munewari — "split chest" — is the front, with a river of bare skin left running down the centre from throat to belly; it's the signature of the classic suit, said to echo the open front of a labourer's coat, and it means the whole masterpiece vanishes the moment you do up a shirt.

Nagazubon — "long trousers" — carries the legs down to the ankle, the lower half to match the full sleeves up top.

Put them together and you've drawn the map of a sōshinbori, the complete full-body suit — back, arms, front, legs — the kind that takes years of appointments and a serious tolerance for the needle to finish. It's one of the most committed things a person can do to their own skin.
Which is the quiet joke of the shirt. For most of us this is as close as we'll get to the full suit — a bodysuit you can take off at the end of the day and hang on the door. And for the few already carrying the real thing underneath their clothes, it's a private in-joke worn, for once, on the outside.

亀の甲 (kamenokō, "tortoise shell" — the backpiece) · 長袖 (nagasode, "long sleeves" — full arms) · 胸割り (munewari, "split chest" — the open front) · 長ズボン (nagazubon, "long trousers" — full legs).

Manga Hanga (漫画版画)