Tattoos in japan

Ferikksu · 4 Mar 2013

Hello i have some questions about tattoos in japan.

So i have been studying japanese for about 2 years, This summer iam going to tokyo for 3 months to enjoy myself. Next year i will move to japan to continue my studies.

To my question, I have a full back tattoo of a phoenix Would i have any kind of problems if i were to live in japan?
Im a pretty big guy both tall and wide, would my appearance affect the fact that i have tattoos?

Best regards Felix

Mike Cash · 4 Mar 2013

Do you plan to walk around shirtless? If not, nothing to worry about. Relax and enjoy your stay.

Tamayo · 4 Mar 2013

Mike Cash said:
Do you plan to walk around shirtless? If not, nothing to worry about. Relax and enjoy your stay.

Couldn't tattoos cause problems at Onsens and other similar situations?

FrustratedDave · 4 Mar 2013

Yes, you will most likely be denied entry to Onsens or asked to leave if they find out after the fact.

Mike Cash · 4 Mar 2013

Tamayo said:
Couldn't tattoos cause problems at Onsens and other similar situations?

As much as people enjoy tossing this factoid around to each other, and as much as it may be true in some situations....onsen really aren't a part of daily life for most folks. I have yet to go to one myself.

The image of tattoos has undergone a drastic change in Japan. While they aren't quite as mainstream decoration as seems to be the case these days in the U.S., there are a great many young Japanese who have jumped on that bandwagon and the old "tattoo = yakuza" thing just simply is no longer true. People in Japan aren't idiots; they have enough brains to tell the difference between a yakuza and a trendy youth. Nobody is going to mistake a great big Swede as being a member of Japanese organized crime. If I were Japanese, I would find this constant "tattoo = yakuza" crap that foreigners delight in telling each other quite insulting to my intelligence.

Tamayo · 4 Mar 2013

Mike Cash said:
As much as people enjoy tossing this factoid around to each other, and as much as it may be true in some situations....onsen really aren't a part of daily life for most folks. I have yet to go to one myself.

It isn't really unthinkable that someone going to Japan for their first time might want to give the popular attractions a whirl. I wouldn't mind going to an onsen when I visit, so I figured it's something worth noting to someone who might be interested. As for onsen not being a part of daily life for most people in Japan -- he said himself that he's going there to enjoy himself, not to partake in the "every day life" that most people live there.

Mike Cash said:
...the old "tattoo = yakuza" thing just simply is no longer true.

I don't think anyone here is saying so.

Mike Cash · 4 Mar 2013

Yeah, I know. It's just that it is one of those old chestnuts about Japan that may have been true once, but is either changing or already changed years ago....yet foreigners (especially those who have never been here) keep on passing along to each other. It gets tiresome after a while.

The main point, though, is NOBODY in Japan is idjit enough to see a great honking huge Swede and mistake him for a yakuza. And having a tattoo is not going to adversely affect his stay in Japan in any MEANINGFUL way.

Tamayo · 4 Mar 2013

Mike Cash said:
having a tattoo is not going to adversely affect his stay in Japan in any MEANINGFUL way.

I suppose that'd be important to keep in mind, yeah.

epigene · 4 Mar 2013

Mike Cash said:
....onsen really aren't a part of daily life for most folks. I have yet to go to one myself.

You should, MIke! I recommend the one we went this year. It's at Shima Onsen, Gunma. Awfully quaint and historic (read: a bit rundown) and cheap.
It became the model for the Yuya in Miyazaki Hayao's "Spirited Away" 千と千尋の神隠し。
四万温泉群馬県旅館積善館【公式HP】

We stayed at the Honkan for a week for touji--hubbie's relaxation (after surgery and therapy). I'm pretty sure you'll like it. :nihonjin:

As for people with tattoos in onsen, my husband and I have yet to see anyone with tattoo (Japanese or foreign) at such onsen places.

nnnaaa · 5 Mar 2013

So far as I know, Onsen-spas and pools usually prohibit tatooed persons. Some may have such thing written in their rules, so in that case you may not be allowed (regardless of nationality). If you wish to use the pool at the hotel you're staying, you'd better check about that beforehand. As for Onsen, there is an option to select inns with rooms that have private Onsen-baths.

Davey · 5 Mar 2013

The only time I saw someone with a tattoo in the onsen was down the road 5 minutes from the yamaguchi gumi's head office...

besides that I have never seen anyone with a tattoo inside the onsen. If you do care about having a tattoo, you could buy skin stickers somewhere, although I doubt they have stickers that cover your whole back.

theBrokenMonkey · 7 Jun 2013

FrustratedDave said:
Yes, you will most likely be denied entry to Onsens or asked to leave if they find out after the fact.

Hello.
I am also sweish, have more tattoos than the TO it seems and I have been to a few onsen in Japan. Once have I been asked not to come back. I have not ever been to one in Tokyo thouh, so maybe the rejecting places are more common there. If you do want to be sure to avoid problems ask upon entry or go to an onsen resort, they seem to care less since you pay more. Have seen yakuza (my assumption due to the nature of his tattoos) once at a Hokkaido resort.
As for daily life here you will get stared at little more at if you flaunt tattoos than if you don't. But no worse than that. Old people, at least i Gifu, will look at you as some kind of weirdo, sometimes scum, but you'll get used to it. If you only have a tattoo on your back, it should not affect your stay in Japan. Unless you, as stated above, walk around topless. That would probably make you look very odd even without a tattoo...

Tattoos in japan

Ferikksu

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Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Tamayo

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FrustratedDave

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Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Tamayo

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Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Tamayo

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epigene

相変わらず不束者です

nnnaaa

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Davey

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theBrokenMonkey

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