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Tattoo You

7 Jun 2008
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Tattoos are wildly popular with young people (under 30 or so) here. Just about every young person either has tattoos or wants one.

Are tattoos popular in Japan? Or are they rare to unheard of?

My wife bets they're rare or unheard of, because of the cultural connection of tattoos and yakuza. I bet her that young people in Japan are getting tattooed too. Who is right?
 
Changing views on body tattoos
The above article dates from last year.

Work brings me to Shibuya three times a week. Though certainly not representative for all of Japan I see a lot of young Japanese sporting tattoos; the traditional Japanese connection between tattoos and organised crime will eventually disappear.

I remember my grandparents' generation associating them with sailors and convicts. :)

 
Last time in Japan I recall seeing quite a lot of Japanese women with tattoos, especially staff in (Irish) pubs and passerbys in the trendy neighbourhoods
 
I remember my grandmother telling me a thousand times as a child not to get a tattoo because you could not become President if you had one , LOL.
 
I've wondered if I'd ever get a tattoo, having gone so long without one (couldn't decide what I wanted permantly scrawled on me). Believe it or not, the onsen hassle has been a factor in my decision to stay ink-free. It'd be nice if these attitudes changed, I think tattoos can be very beautiful
 
Never really cared for them, but to each their own and I'd prefer that people are given more latitude about these things rather than less. I wonder, though, how much of Japanese youth getting tattoos is out of allegiance to a fashion trend. It often seems like part of a uniform they're wearing.

@Uncle Frank Ol' Teddy Roosevelt would be surprised to hear that! ;)
 
I wonder, though, how much of Japanese youth getting tattoos is out of allegiance to a fashion trend. It often seems like part of a uniform they're wearing.

Yeah, just like the American kids.

The difference being that Japanese youth tend to get the tribal and jailhouse tattoos that American youth don't get anymore.
 
Do any of the young ladies get tattoos just above their buttocks (a charming custom)? Or on their breasts?

How do they deal with the public baths?
 
Years ago when I was in law enforcement , a tattoo was a warning sign that the person may have a criminal background (or ex military). My 2 nieces are covered in tattoos now like many young ladies of today seem to be. I'm not a fan of needles or pain , so no ink for me.
 
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