Why you cannot have tattoos in Japan #shorts

[yagami]

Many places are willing to cut some slack for foreigners because they understand that their tattoos usually have nothing to do with being part of the yakuza but obviously this depends largely on the establishment and the person in charge at that time.

[jamesbromstead]

Also in the Edo period, Japanese firefighters wore full suit body tattoos as religious protection and a method of identifying their bodies if they died fighting the structural fires.

[readyrex]

Some will allow you to go in without covering, but they are hard to find.

[openthinker]

My father actually went on a multi-day bike ride in Japan as a student and went on an overnight ferry with an on-board onsen. And lo and behold, he happened to go in while a half dozen Japanese men with huge tattoos were in it.
He was friendly with them and they were polite, and it wasn’t until years later when he told my mom that she revealed they were probably the Yakuza, since only they got the types of tattoos he described them having. Still funny to imagine my dad chumming it up with them 😂

[Aredel]

RIP to any US soldiers there on deployment

[TheLexikitty]

I now want a teddy bear on my shoulder specifically so folks will imagine a gang called the Teddy Bears.

[Trojianmaru]

The funny part is, I genuinely can't imagine any onsen worker actually having the balls to tell a Yakuza they can't come in 😂

[Crazt]

This isn't entirely true anymore, especially since the 2020 Olympics. With all the travel expected for the Olympics many of these places realized the money to be made and started having exceptions for foreigners. Even as early as 2018 the Dogo Onsen in Matyuama, Ehime was allowing tattoos without issue.

[Post_and_Ghost]

They also have businesses that do not allow foreigners of any kind in. Maybe restaurants also have foreigner higher rate menu prices.

[chrisbarnes]

Wife and i went to japan last march. We both have tattoos and we were careful to keep them covered most of the time but it really wasn't a huge issue. Maybe we just got lucky

[StormCrownSr]

Imagine having a bright pink teddy bear with a pink halo and a speech bubble saying "I love you beary much" and the reaction is "NO! YOU COULD BE YAKUZA!"

[mgonzo]

"Look at This Guy's Nipples" is the subtitle of my autobiography.

[PAGANONYMOUS]

Somebody took a s**t in that one! Look at that! 😮

[javiarcamaro]

"Your gonna regret that when your olde-" yakuza grandpa looking like an absolute G

[franzfanz]

"Look at this guy's nipples."

[reberror]

As someone living in Japan for a few years now, most foreigners likely wont experience this, as long as you stick to the tourist areas. Japan is an extremely welcoming country IN TOURIST AREAS. If you wander outside of those areas tattoos will be the least of you worries. It is very common for establishments to not allow foreigners at all, tattoos or not. And there will be signs saying that foreigners are not allowed. This is perfectly legal in Japan and there’s nothing you can do about it because racism is ingrained so deeply within their culture they do not understand that this is racist. If you try to get a job here I would advise you to only work for large corporations. Smaller businesses will and have withheld foreigners passports to prevent them from leaving. This is also legal but to get it back takes months and months of legal work. Japan is a great place to visit, but living here comes with many challenges

[HexMon-fd]

American imagine tattoos being part of your culture like for Samoans and you just go to visit Japan and you can't go do shit.

[mazder]

Yakuza tattoos are such incredible art and fascinating symbolism

[Hufi.]

If you still want to go to a Japanese bath house, you need to find one owned by the yakuza. They are just like the normal ones, but people can have tattoos and I don't think you should start a fight haha

[richardstone]

Those sunflower are artwork on an epic level.