For most of us, we collect all sorts of things. We collect books, jewelry, and probably action figures. But one type of collection that’s normally unheard of is the collection of tattooed human skin. Meet Dr Fukushi Masaichi, a physician, a pathologist and an Emeritus Professor.
Image | HistoricVids
This tweet managed to gain traction of 8.3 million views in less than 24 hours.
Images | HistoricVids
The thread above focuses mostly on the aspect of culture and tattoos. However, a simple search would prove differently. Dr Fukushi Masaichi didn’t simply collect these ‘hides’ as a hobby. Instead, he found that tattoo ink eradicates skin lesions caused by syphilis. There were two methods used in preserving the collected skins i.e. wet (preserving the skin in glycerin or formalin) and dry (removing the skin gently from the body. The nerves and tissues were scraped off before it was stretched out to dry).
Over the course of his research, he managed to collect as many as 2000 human bodysuits. Most of the suits were lost or destroyed during air raid bombings, leaving only 105 in number. They are now on display at Medical Pathology Museum at Tokyo University. You are one of the lucky ones if you are able to view them since the collection is not open for public viewing.
Despite collecting tattooed human skins, Masaichi himself had none.
All in all, this is not another Ed Gein case. Phew.
