Tattoo

[MMM]

Originally Posted by JayAyeAre

to associate tattoos with criminal organizations is ridicoulous.

Tattoos = Criminal organizations in Japan. Ridiculous or not, that is reality.

[Kushaba]

Originally Posted by redline

Ill be going for about a week on a trip. They are maybe 2 or 3 inches below my elbow, not too far. I'm a little disappointed that I will have trouble getting into an onsen. It was one of the things I was really looking forward to , but oh well, I'm sure there's plenty of things to keep me occupied in Japan .

yeah it really sucks. but having a tatto in japan shows that you are a criminal or worse Part of Yakuza. so i'd be warry

[JayAyeAre]

yeah I get what yall are saying. It's embedded in yalls ideology respectfully. But if you look at it without any culture or ideology affecting it, associating people who have tattoos with criminal organizations is to associate people who wear clothes with criminal organizations. There is always going to be bad and good in every type of group whether it be race, gender, type of work, etc.. and to stereotype a certain group into a morally wrong organization is prejudice.

There's good and bad Japanese people
There's good and bad Mexican people
There's good and bad females
There's good and bad doctors
There's good and bad priests
There's good and bad old people
and there's good and bad young people.

As I said before I know it is embedded in your ideology respectifully..
but it is good to think without any boundries, to have a free mind.
You will realize what life and people really have to offer.

[Columbine]

We understand where you're coming from Jay, but this isn't about OUR personal views of tattoos. Personally I don't mind them, but in Japan, as has already been pointed out, there's a huge social stigma associated with tattoos.

Point in case; at the games festival in Tokyo this very week, a British game designer was reported in the Daily Telegraph talking about the difficulties foreign designers have breaking into the Japanese market and his exact point was that in the UK it's standard to have a protagonist with tattoos but that isn't allowed in Japan. Same with characters with missing fingers.

[MMM]

Jay until recently in Japan there really was only one kind of person who got tattoos: gangsters. So maybe it's not fair to stereotype, but the stereotype was reality.

[tksensei]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

It's all well and good to say someone else is a dick .

Ok, you're a dick.

[phasedmemories]

what about a foot tattoo? can you get away with something like that or it's all the same (in terms of getting into an onsen)?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by phasedmemories

what about a foot tattoo? can you get away with something like that or it's all the same (in terms of getting into an onsen)?

The point is, if the people the onsen are trying to keep out catch wind that the onsen is letting certain people with tattoos in, then there will be hell to pay. So the answer would be "no entry".

[Blitzwing85]

Well, despite having to filter though all the bitching it's at least shead some light on the original point.

I have 1 tattoo, on my back. It has no meaning, it's simply something i designed myself which looks good on me.
I don't see the problem with being not allowed in. In all honesty from the 2 reasons given (yakuza and tattoos being a sign of a weak person) i would have to say the latter is the one which is stupid.

If tattoos are associated with gang culture in Japan then i'm more than happy to keep mine covered at all times. Which only stops me going anywhere with my top off in public.
However, to associate them with weak people due to cultural history is naive. However i very much doubt that many in modern Japan think that at all. Maybe only the oldest and most traditional.
Because at the end of the day they would surely know that in other cultures tattoos have a different meaning, and have nothing to do with how strong a person someone is.

Other cultures in my experience are never as bad as what western media makes them out to be.
I've recently been to a Muslim country, and visited a Mosque.
From what i've heard in our media then i expected everyone to be religeous and to be very very strict.
How wrong that view is...most Muslims are VERY lax in their religion, probably almost as relaxed about it as Christians are in the UK.
They might loosly follow the religion, but they rank family above all else, they rank having fun and earning a good living above religion.
They also didn't mind foreigners being of another religion, or even not being religeous at all like myself.

Every country has it's traditions and i think you should respect them. But most countries also don't follow their traditions as much as people think, especially in the modern towns and cities.
At the end of the day not many people want to sacrifice having a good life just to follow age old traditions which prohibit from doing so many fun and interesting things.


However i also firmly believe that if you visit another country as a tourist, you should at least make an effort to understand their ways and to speak the basics of their language out of respect.




1 more point...you know that most of these policies talked about are present in western society too. Sometimes it's just more relaxed view on it.

Muslims countries do not allow drinking in public, on the streets etc. Er, neither does the UK.

Japan won't allow tattoos in certain areas...neither does the UK.
(most pubs/bars won't allow tattoos on show as they are still associated with violence)


These rules are not as 'extreme' as people make them out to be.

It's all about give and take!

[Polar]

I never knew about that in the UK