Interesting Facts!! #37

37. Tattoos

Despite the popularity of Japanese art and imagery among tattoo artists and enthusiasts in the West, even the most beautiful piece of body work done by the most talented artist will result in disapproving looks and negative comments. Even the smallest, most insignificant tattoo will get you thrown out or prohibited from entering certain public places.

There are prominent, clearly labeled signs at establishments like fitness gyms, public swimming pools, and especially at Japan’s renown hot springs, that state anyone with irezumi, the Japanese word for ‘tattoo,’ are banned from entry. But if you have a much larger tattoo, it is not unheard of to be asked to leave establishments like restaurants or stores. You probably won’t be asked to leave food establishments or shops, but those public places like pools and hot springs will ask you to leave immediately.


Probably the most wanted Japanese tattoo artist in the world is Horiyoshi III. He is recognized for his stunning, intricate full-body ‘suits’ that can take many years to complete. These are the kind of tattoos that are synonymous with the yakuza — the Japanese mafia, or criminal underworld. This isn’t the glamorous, or honorific lifestyle that is sometimes portrayed, the yakuza are involved in everything from drug sales, prostitution, and gambling, all the way to up the crime in the white-collar world, like loan-sharking and personal or political blackmail. And everyone in Japan knows this. When they see or hear about yakuza and their world, they know it’s dangerous.

Horiyoshi III openly admits that he used to be involved in the criminal lifestyle, although he gave it up long ago to focus on his craft. He hopes that one day his work can contribute to a change in the perception of tattoos for Japanese people, and bring an end to what is sometimes seen as discrimination as people with tattoos.

There's a theory that tattoos were important in the Japan's Jomon Period (10,000 B.C. to 300 B.C.). There isn't any physical proof that the Jomon people tattooed themselves; however, a Chinese historical record written at around 300 A.D. said all Japanese men tattooed their faces and bodies. This history is marked by a love-hate relationship: In the 17th century, for example, criminals were tattooed to blatantly mark them in shame instead of punishment through mutilation. As VanishingTattoo points out, some criminals even had the Japanese for "dog" (inu,犬) inked on their foreheads. During the following century, however, tattoos became fashionable.

full body tattoo

However, tattoos were banned in the mid-to-late 19th century as the country opened up to the outside world. The fear was that the custom might seem primitive to foreigners or mocked abroad. The Japanese government saw tattoos as "barbaric" and certainly not part of their program to modernize. It wasn't until after World War II that the legal prohibition against tattooing was lifted. Tattoos are far more of a rarity in daily life in Japan than abroad. 

Warning: If you have tattoos and are planning on visiting Japan, you might run into problems at, for example, hot springs and public pools. Either cover your tattoos with bandages or band-aids (if possible!) or rent rooms at hot springs that come with a private bath. For business trips, unless your work is connected to the arts, it might be good to discretely cover your ink (if possible).

-The more you know~