that guy is stylish.

really? i didn't know that. because when i was in tokyo i saw a lot of females [well mostly teens & young adults] with piercings and they weren't given special attention or anything like that.
utada hikaru has plastic surgery? .. & anyway don't a lot of japanese get their eyelids done? because most of the middle aged & old people in japan have single lids whereas a lot of young people have doubles. but anyway like i said i don't know the numbers so i'm not going to say i'm positive about these things.
well yes i know about the braces .. because for example all the american magazines' models usually have straight teeth, whereas in japanese magazines i've seen girls with like vampire teeth. >< but i didn't mean to use that as a notable example
no i know famous people can get away with more .. i know this is going to sound stupid [i can't think of another example] but there was a picture of a jrocker with his finger up his nose and a lot of people commented with "LOL HE'S SO CUTE" whereas a normal person doing that would get negative feedback. but i don't think famous people get away with serious issues more than regular people. not much anyway.


and about the hoodie issue .. if it's easier to get through customs with a suit why not just wear that? you can hide a tattoo in a suit as well as you can hide one in a hoodie ..

Why do you feel the need to hide a tattoo at customs to begin with? They're not going to turn you away.

well i don't have a stand on whether or not it's needed .. but there's debating going on up there so i was making a suggestion.

That's kind of my point. I have said the hoodie thing was just an example of how you could cover up your neck, IF you were worried about a tattoo. I don't think you'd get turned away at customs for having a tattoo either, but that was the opinion of some people here, hence my comments.

Ths is what i have been saying... I am glad you finally get it.

Rina, the issue is not about "hiding it", but the amount of trouble you may have to go through for having a tatoo.... A lot of people have illusions that Japan is a very open and modern country, that is only what was exposed to the world. Internally, Japan is still a very very conservative country, the concept of body art is there, but not widely accepted by the general public, as a matter, the world been demanding the "open and twisted" side of things more, that is why only these material are being exposed to the rest of the world.

Back to the "conservative" topic, people (Custom) will judge and question you if they felt that you are a threat to society, and this threat, is usually judged based on how you present yourself, so while they don't accept body art, presenting yourself with one is potentially "asking for it"

Modern yes, but HOW can _anyone_ describe Japan as "open" ?!

Well, for people like yourself, MMM, Nagoyankee (and others) and the few of us that knows about Japan, will know that its NOT, but thats how others sees it. Most of the influence comes from the POP/ROCK, Anime/Manga and Adult Entertainment influence.

When I say "Open" I wasn't referring to anything relating to sex or anything like that, but more along the line of open culture that accepts anything that goes around the world

Yeah, coming from an actually "open" (IMO) country, it wasn't hard to notice that when I was in Japan.