Having a Tattoo in Japan

[Nagoyankee]

Public bath houses （銭湯） - No Problem. I don't know why some people have said otherwise. I see guys with much more elaborate tattoos (practically all over their bodies except faces) in these places.

Hot Springs - Problem. But most hotel rooms in hot spring resorts have a private bath in the room.

Swimming Pools - Mostly Impossible. There are exceptions such as the Tokyo Summer Land for one.

Pools at hotels - Utterly impossible.

Beaches/Rivers/Lakes - No problem whatsoever.

[MMM]

I think it is easy for people to mix up public bath houses and hot springs. As a tourist, he probably won't be going to a public bath...but a hot spring would be a different story.

The bath house is just that, a local public bath. Everyone needs to get clean, so tattoos aren't going to scare people off. Hot springs are more expensive, and are tourist destinations, so keeping them quiet, civil and problem-free is in the owners' best interest. You can't say "No yakuza" so that problem is resolved with "no tattoos".

[nellyaudrey]

is it worse or okay for girls to have tattoos? mine are kinda girly and i didn't think it'd really be a problem for me but if i wear a suit and my shoulders show, will that be bad?

oh, and i'm white as paper and i even look american. Will that make it worse because i know that japanese people might have low opinions of americans alltogether.

i don't know how to upload pictures of my tattoos from my pc, so they're not here. but i have a set of three stars that say Second star to the right, from peter pan, on my collarbone and a sphinx on my shoulder.

thanks!

[chachava]

Originally Posted by nellyaudrey

is it worse or okay for girls to have tattoos? mine are kinda girly and i didn't think it'd really be a problem for me but if i wear a suit and my shoulders show, will that be bad?

oh, and i'm white as paper and i even look american. Will that make it worse because i know that japanese people might have low opinions of americans alltogether.

i don't know how to upload pictures of my tattoos from my pc, so they're not here. but i have a set of three stars that say Second star to the right, from peter pan, on my collarbone and a sphinx on my shoulder.

thanks!

ALL tattoos are frowned upon, doesn't matter who you are or what you look like... you could be a 3-year old child and you still wouldn't be allowed into an onsen if you have a tattoo

[laurengl88]

yeah, from what I understand, having a tatoo is normally interpretted as being a member of a mafia. I know a guy who got kicked out of one cuz he had small tatoo on his arm so...

[cy1982]

Originally Posted by Nagoyankee

Swimming Pools - Mostly Impossible. There are exceptions such as the Tokyo Summer Land for one.

Tokyo Summerland is a nono for skin art now

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

I don't think anyone has asked this before (if they have I totally missed it) but I noticed there is a lot of problems with the association with Yakuza to having a tattoo. Just because you have a tattoo, doesn't mean you are a gang member.

Why is this so? A lot of cultures and people have tattoos as symbolic representations.

In the past was there some sort of incident involving Yakuza and hot springs etc.

From what is written here, if you have a tattoo, no matter who you are, it is frowned upon.

Having a tattoo in Japan must mean you are in a gang. It is probably so intergraded into their society that that response is natural?

[chachava]

Originally Posted by Kanji_The_Wanderer

I don't think anyone has asked this before (if they have I totally missed it) but I noticed there is a lot of problems with the association with Yakuza to having a tattoo. Just because you have a tattoo, doesn't mean you are a gang member.

Why is this so? A lot of cultures and people have tattoos as symbolic representations.

In the past was there some sort of incident involving Yakuza and hot springs etc.

From what is written here, if you have a tattoo, no matter who you are, it is frowned upon.

Having a tattoo in Japan must mean you are in a gang. It is probably so intergraded into their society that that response is natural?

Doesn't mean you are a gang member but, because of the links to gang members, people with tattoos are generally frowned upon (especially by the older generation)

[MMM]

A lot of younger people are getting tattoos in Japan. But if you are yakuza, there is a good chance you are inked. Onsens can't put up a sign that says "No Yakuza", so they go around the issue by saying "No Tattoos".

[Jaydelart]

Hypothetically speaking, what if a person were to have a small tattoo ("small" being a few inches in diameter/height/width) in an inconspicuous location like the inner-bicep (armpit area) or ankle. Do they usually do inspections for these kinds of things?