I want to get a tattoo!
Eighty percent of students except for Japanese from my school have tattoos on their bodies. From a pretty little heart tattoo on her wrist to a giant intricate one that are designed across his whole back; everyone has their own different style tattoos. The best one that caught my eyes are rib tattoos, especially which are on their flanks, diagonally below breasts and small. (Apparently, the ribs are considered one of the most painful area to get a tattoo!) They are usually hidden from their daily clothes, so only when they’re wearing more revealing clothes or a bikini we can finally see them, and naturally we would be captivated forcefully. (hot tip: If you open your eyes amuck, then you’re pervert, be careful.) This is the same situation as when something secret is revealed, people tend to be attracted. Aside from that, because of the placement, rib tattoos are really sexy.I thought it’d be nice to get one while in Australia. In some areas, I see many tattoo parlors and each parlor is within a kilometer of each other. It’s actually really common to get a tattoo abroad. If I were to get a tattoo in Japan, I’d probably have to head to the end of a sketchy street and end up in a suspicious building, and then when I stand in front of a door I’d shy away from it. (....Okay, I’m chicken!) But as I’m living abroad, I got used to passing by tattoo parlors and also am surrounded by friends with tattoos everyday, which doesn’t make me a coward anymore and I’m always ready for it. So the question is, have I got one? Well, no. I’m sure eventually I’m going to opt not do it.Something keeps me from pulling the trigger. Getting a tattoo is neither a hazard to my health, nor does it make the process of getting hired harder. As mentioned above, tattoos are concealable. The point is, Japanese culture. I’m worried about being judged in Japan. Even though it’s so tiny and I’d always conceal it, I couldn’t face the fact that I have a tattoo on my body as a Japanese person. Getting a tattoo is really frowned upon in Japan. People see them unfavorable as though it were illegal. Notably, people with tattoos are not allowed to be inside some facilities such as a pool, hot spring and spa. When I talked about it to my other country’s friend, she voiced “Why!?” with her eyes wide open. She just couldn’t wrap her head around the societal stigma. I had expected her reaction, but I hadn’t prepared that answer, I could only respond with “...I don’t know.” I had been reflecting on the reasoning for a while but I couldn’t come up with any answers other than “ People would think they’re yakuza.” Yakuza are members of transnational organized crime syndicates in Japan, which are similar to Mafia. Perhaps, this might be the case for a lot people with a tattoos, but not everyone with a tattoo in Japan are directly related to the yakuza. They are described as people with heavily tattooed bodies. They are thought not to be associated with our society so people would rather exclude them from facilities, even though we don’t know whether or not they are actually yakuza members. We also have another reason for disapproving tattoos. That is our history, which comes from in the 17th century. Originally Tattoos are once used as punishment for criminals. Besides, it was illegalized by 1948, which is not such a long time ago. Many might not know this history but it is the reason why the tattoo stigma was set in the first place. As long as we are Japanese we cannot stop but rank people with tattoos as lower class as they don’t follow the crowd. Isn’t it quite rude to look down on them based on what they look like? But unfortunately we Japanese tend to categorize people by not only tattoos, but other things.If you go to elementary school with colored hair, people would think that your parents are uneducated, ignorant or illiterate. If you go to junior high school with earrings or pierces, your friend would think that you are a naughty student. These examples are more than incomprehensible for me. Whoever can explain the rationales behind them? Why can’t we Japanese stop thinking like that? I wish we considered these kinds of things as a form of art, fashion and expression. It’s about time Japan became more like one of the more open-minded countries. I’d love to declare on what we should change as a society, but even when I’m giving a presentation in front of class, it makes me so nervous that I just keep my opinion to myself and can only share it here on my blog.
