Irezumi (入れ墨, lit. "inserting ink") (also spelled 入墨) is the Japanese word for tattoo, and is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing, though it is also used as a blanket term to describe a number of tattoo styles originating in Japan, including tattooing traditions from both the Ainu people and the Ryukyuan Kingdom. At the beginning of the Meiji period, the Japanese government outlawed tattoos, and irezumi took on connotations of criminality and delinquency as a result, leading to considerable stigma against people with tattoos and tattooing in modern-day Japan.