A few days ago, it was reported that a Taiwanese who traveled to Japan was kicked out of the bathhouse because of tattoos. Akio Yabata, a senior Japanese media person, explained this.

Schematic diagram, the picture has nothing to do with the news event.

(Bloomberg)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] It has recently been reported that a Taiwanese traveler to Japan was expelled from the bathhouse because of the tattoos on his body.

In this regard, Akio Yata, a senior Japanese media person who has lived in Taiwan for a long time, explained that in the Japanese concept, "tattoos" are often linked with "crime".

A few days ago, a netizen posted on the Facebook group "Anonymous 2 Commune" that when a friend traveled to Japan during the Chinese New Year, when he was taking a bath in the hotel bathhouse, the business owner suddenly rushed in and yelled at his friend. "My friend can't understand Japanese, and the other party can't understand Taiwanese, and there is no Chinese notice at all, and the shop assistant outside said in Chinese that you can't enter the bathhouse if you have tattoos, and just picked up the bench in the bathhouse to scare you, please. He was quiet so as not to disturb other customers, but the boss somehow called the police to drive them away.”

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After the article was posted, it sparked a lot of discussion. Akio Yata also posted on Facebook that Japan respected samurai in the Edo period, and the spirit of samurai was deeply influenced by Confucianism, and he held a critical attitude towards "self-injury". At that time, when the population was concentrated in big cities and the crime rate was rising, the Edo shogunate used tattoos as a punishment in order to suppress crime.

Yaban Akio said that after the Meiji Restoration, the tattoo penalty was abolished, but at the same time, tattoos were also prohibited by law. If they were found to have tattoos on their bodies, both the tattooer and the tattoo artist would be punished. This law has been in use until 1948. " Therefore, in Japanese consciousness, "tattoos" and "crime" are often combined together."

After World War II, tattoos became legal in Japan, but most people are still reluctant to get tattoos. At the same time, tattoos became the "certification symbol" of the underworld.

Akio Yabata also quoted the analysis of sociologists, and pointed out three reasons why gangsters like tattoos: first, to express their determination as a gangster to their gang; second, to intimidate others; third, to be less bullied when in prison, because Most people with tattoos have gangs behind them.

Akio Yaba concluded that based on the above reasons, Japanese hot springs and swimming pools generally refuse people with tattoos to enter, because they are afraid that other guests will be scared away when these people come in; in addition, under normal circumstances, people with tattoos in Japan , cannot participate in life insurance, because the underworld often fights and kills, and the possibility of abnormal death is higher than ordinary people.

Yaba Akio also mentioned that with the arrival of a large number of foreign tourists in recent years, the Japanese government has repeatedly called on stores to cancel the discriminatory rule that "people with tattoos cannot bathe". Some hot spring hotels have relaxed the rules, and some operators have introduced A sticker that can cover up a tattoo, as long as it is pasted, it can be ruined.