Keep it covered is my advice...

also, yopu have a 0% chance of being allowed anywhere near a swimming pool, hot spring etc. with a tattoo

the tattoo looks cool, but unfortunately, that will hinder you to use public bath houses, onsen or maybe even pools.

Most have a big warning in the entrance that says "NO Tattoo", if there is none, be sure to confirm/ask first ..

Being Chinese has nothing to do with it. It looks like a yakuza tattoo. You can ask at the front desk (and I would before exposing myself publically at a pool or hot spring) but I am afraid most places will say no.

You can go to the beach, though.

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.

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".

tattoos
 

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

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...

Tokyo Summerland is a nono for skin art now :(