[lisako]

I

personally think the Japanese Yakuza tattoos are really cool and serious works of art! I know most Japanese

people don't think that way...
I was just wondering, does anyone know if you can go to pools/onsen now

with tattoos?! I remember when I was young the big sign that said "No Tattoos" in English and

Japanese, but I think they're getting more liberal about it now adays...
When I go to Japan this year I

don't want to not be able to go! I don't have really big tattoos, anyways, but does that make a

difference?! Do they only not let the extreme Yakuza like tattoos in or all?!!
MOM?!

[Mabuta]

My 63 year

old father has got tattoos and he is welcome in onsens, Lisako! But then again he's not covered in them.

But his tattoos are big enough for anyone to see, as well.

[lisako]

oh ok good

then I hope they just mean Yakuza tattoos

[kenji]

I am told

that my great grandmother, now dead, had blue rectangles tatooed on her knuckles. She was Okinawan, and my

understanding is that it was to make her less desireable for kidnap by non Okinawans (perhaps Japanese?). Does

anyone else know anything about this? Any other Okinawans?

[peachgirl]

Lisako-- I went to KenkoLand a couple of weeks ago which is like an Onsen and the first thing I saw when I

walked in was a "no tatoo" sign. But I totally agree, the full body Yakuza tatoos are RAD. ( I

rarely use this word). There's an awesome coffee table book of all these bad dudes. They even have a

picture of this guy's tatooed penis.

[lisako]

Yea!

The best tattoo parlor in Anchorage is called Larry Allen's and he learned how to tattoo in Japan!

Thurr's all these pics of Japanese tattoos and stuff all ova the parlor! yeye!

[shukuchi47]

yeah,

just dont stare at the the yak's with dragon tatoos on their backs. I once saw a fight break out in an

onsen, cus these guys were staring at at yakuza's back. Pretty weird it was, but scary.

Anton

[Nez]

Setting aside

the yakuza stigma, irezumi can be quite nice...



However, if you want something a little less permanent, you can settle for an irezumi

shirt:



Taste is a talent. :nah:

[SWC]

[Shiirosu]

The girl

pictured on the upper left has an awesome tattoo.

[Kakoii]

Those

tatty's are beautiful works of art! Too bad the tattoo artists around here can't come up with a

concept like that..RANT: Is it just me, or does it annoy everyone else to see tonnes of people especially during

the summer sporting those kanji characters tattoo's on their bodies when the person in question appears to

have no connection whatsoever to some sort of oriental background. Now I mean we are all free to get whatever

the hell we want printed on our back, but to me getting a tattoo is about getting something meaningful inked

into you FO LIFE! I bet ya, a good number of people out there with those kanji tattoo's don't even

know the meaning of their own tattoo. Someone could've wrote "Im a stupid shithead" in kanji and

then passed it off as "I'm smart..blah blah.." What a fad!

[wombat777]

funny

you should mention that.

http://www.bmezine.c...too/kanji1.html


href='http://www.hanzismatter.com/2004/10/crazy-diarrhea.html'

target='_blank'>http://www.hanzismat...y-diarrhea.html

[SWC]

[tanpopo]

Those

irezumi on the women are beautiful, but god, to never be able to see your own body under the ink

again...something about that makes me nervous.

[SWC]

[cutiemix]

I think

tatoo is aform of art. As ethnographical accounts support, many cultures around the world had the practice of

tattoing one's body. One famouse group is Maoi in NZ. I think Yakuza's irezumi has different connotation

from those peoples' traditional tatoo practices, but I have to say they are all a form of identity and art.

In fact, japanese irezumi is recognized as a high art of tatoo practice in the world (as I understand). Irezumi

in Japan is strongly associated with yakuza, and yakuza plays a role in building Japanese history and society as

it is now. And Japanese people these days are becoming more open than before, lets' say about 20 years

ago..... one day I hope tatoo/ irezumi will be widely accepted in Japanese society as a form of art, beautifying

oneself, and a form of identity.

[SWC]

[ollytang]

I was

doing some work experience at kyoto mitsubishi byouin 2 summers ago and was doing an attachment in surgery. Well

one morning when I walked into the operating theatres, there was a guy on the table with a huge dragon irezumi

wrapped arond his whole torso with the head just by the clavicles. Yup, he was a yakuza

We stood there around the table for about half an hour discussing where

we'd make the first incisions so as to cause minimal disruption to the irezumi. What was worse was that we had to put a central line (a thin plastic tube) into

a vein just under the clavicle and the point of entry was the dragon's eye!! Wasn't sure if we

should have been laughing or running for our life.

Anyhow, the operation went along smoothly. Towards the end, the

surgeon normally leaves the stitching and closing of the wound to his kouhai but in this case, he was using his

precision skills to align each of the dragon's scales together.

[SWC]

[ollytang]