Nagao Asakusa

Discovering Nosatsu 二

Original sticker approximate size being 10 x 15cm

From the University of Oregon Libraries collection. Let’s first start with the image shown above.

A beautifully crafted and rather large image of a full body tattoo featuring the ever popular dragon- it’s head, claw gripping pearl and tail are prominently displayed with the traditional use of red applied to the underbelly.  The overall cropped composition shows only what is presumably the back with a right arm and hand gripping the handle of a katana.  Clothing is draped around the waste.  It seems to me that print on the cloth might have been dressed up depicting elements of another animal or mythical beast such as a phoenix or tiger.  Rather, it safely mirrors an exaggeration of elements that make up the dragon tattoo.  There is writing arranged on the hand, characters that translate to - Nagao Asakusa.   

Many questions arise in my mind.  Whose sticker was this?   Or was it a group?  Was it a tattooer?  Were they tattooed?  What information can be got from translating and interpretation  the characters 長尾 浅草/ Nagao Asakusa?