Ink can put a kink in Japanese bath visit
TOKYO — Following an increase in the number of foreigners visiting Japan, operators of bathing facilities throughout the country are facing difficult decisions as to whether they should accept foreign customers who have tattoos.
For many foreigners, a tattoo is considered part of their personal style, but in Japan, many people associate tattoos with yakuza crime syndicates.
At many bathing facilities in Japan, people with tattoos are not permitted to enter, although some traditional sento public bathhouses do welcome people with tattoos.
There is an English website providing information for foreign visitors regarding tattoos, and some facilities
are frequented by many tourists from abroad.
A public bathhouse, Funaoka Onsen, in Kyoto, is introduced as “tattoo friendly,” in a popular review site for world travellers.
The bathhouse was founded 70 years ago.
The manager said, “We have not been distinguishing any particular types of customers since way back.”
Partly due to the retro atmosphere of its building, the number of foreign visitors has been increasing gradually since a few years ago.
Julian Parker, 26, from Australia is one of the foreigners who enjoyed the Funaoka Onsen.
He was not permitted to enter a different bathing
facility because he has a tattoo on his left hand. He said that he was glad to have experienced a sento in Japan.
A website was established in May this year to provide relevant information to foreign visitors. The site lists bathing facilities both in English and Japanese. The manager of the site made phone calls and confirmed that they accept people with tattoos. Currently, the site lists a total of about 400 such facilities.
Another website established last year provides information in Chinese and Korean. Based on reviews from users, bathing facilities that accept people with tattoos are identified by a particular colour.