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Abstract

Totemism is a belief in an animal or plant’s guiding spirit that is linked to a person’s character and destiny. Totemism manifests itself in tattoos as body decoration and symbols of hope, such as Yakuza tattoos (irezumi). This research aims to reveal the representation and meaning of totemistic irezumi worn by three Yakuza characters (Kazuma Kiryuu, Akira Nishikiyama, and Goro Majima) in two Yakuza-themed game series: Yakuza 0 (2015) and Yakuza Kiwami 1 (2016). These games provided the primary data in the form of images and conversations. Ricoeur’s hermeneutic theory was applied to examine the data, along with qualitative descriptive and interpretative methods. Analysis revealed differences between the meaning of tattoos shown in the Yakuza games and those existing in the real world. Kiryuu’s dragon tattoo represents the burden of responsibility; Nishiki’s koi tattoo represents the burden of being a great individual; and Majima’s tattoo represents an emotional burden. Thus, the entities shown in those irezumi can be said to represent psychological burden and influence their bearers’ as personal totems.

Bahasa Abstract

Totem merupakan kepercayaan pada roh pembimbing binatang atau tumbuhan yang membuat karakter serta takdir seseorang terikat pada totem. Salah satu totemisme terwujud dalam tato sebagai hiasan tubuh dan simbol pengharapan, misalnya pada tato milik Yakuza (irezumi). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengungkap representasi totemisme serta pemaknaannya pada irezumi milik tokoh Yakuza (Kazuma Kiryuu, Akira Nishikiyama, serta Goro Majima) dalam seri gim Yakuza. Sumber data primer berupa gambar dan percakapan yang diperoleh dari seri gim Yakuza 0 (2015) serta Yakuza Kiwami 1 (2016). Analisis data berlandaskan teori hermeneutika Ricoeur dengan metode deskriptif kualitatif dan interpretatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan perbedaan pemaknaan tato pada dimensi gim Yakuza dengan realitas. Tato naga milik Kiryuu menyimbolkan beban tanggung jawab, tato koi milik Nishiki menyimbolkan beban tuntutan untuk menjadi sosok hebat, dan tato hannya milik Majima menyimbolkan beban emosional. Dengan demikian, objek irezumi para tokoh turut merepresentasikan beban psikologis yang ditanggung sekaligus memengaruhi watak mereka sebagaimana konsep totem.

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