Kobe’s efforts to make its beaches more family friendly by banning people with tattoos from being on them appears to have backfired spectacularly – far from increasing visitor numbers with a flood of reassured families as was planned, young people have all but disappeared from the beach and visitor numbers are at their lowest ever.
The city government originally became concerned about “worsening public order driving away families” and, reasoning that young people cause trouble and people with tattoos are bad people, opted to implement a zero tolerance ban on tattoos – no matter how small.
Police patrolled the beach in order to harass anyone baring a tattoo into either leaving or covering up, issuing approximately 760 warnings.
Astonishingly, visitors objected to this treatment and responded by not coming to the beach and finding other things to do instead.
The city had expected its “family friendly” policies to reverse declining beach attendance and increase the season’s attendance from 620,000 last year to 700,000 this year.
Instead, attendance was the lowest ever recorded – some 530,000 – despite a longer than average swimming season.
A raft of other measures to make the beach less appealing to young people were also adopted, including banning the use of loudspeakers at events and shortening the operating hours of beach huts. This helped ensure the number of events held at the beach plummeted from 140 last year to a mere 30 this year.
Local beach businesses say getting the ordinances repealed is “a matter of life or death,” though the city refuses to acknowledge any problems: “By making a wholesome beach families will return, and in the future the turnout will recover.”
They are not alone in their hatred of people with tattoos, it seems:
“Of course, next year the families are sure to come!”
“External appearances are a mirror on your soul! All you tattooed bastards should disappear off the face of the earth!”
“Everyone judges based on appearance anyway.”
“Families can’t enjoy the beach if there are people with tattoos there. Excluding them is a good idea.”
“Tattoos are popular nowadays. People with them like them, they are considered stylish. Gloomy serious bastards without them should stay away from the beach anyway.”
“Even without the ordinance, it was a cool summer, it’s to be expected!”
“So 100,000 people had tattoos? I doubt it.”
“A lot of beach-goers have them. Even if they don’t, if their friends do they aren’t going to go to the beach without them, are they? Pointless moralistic policies like this just cause economic damage. The Kobe city government is a right bunch of idiots.”
“Aren’t they ashamed to have tattoos? If they ever have kids they won’t be able to take them to the baths.”
“Tattooed people can’t have MRI! They will get cancer more easily! What a bunch of idiots!”
“Tattoos are proof you are a criminal. This is Japanese culture. This is Japan, you criminals!”
“Tattoos are fashion items amongst the young these days. If you start trying to exclude them like this, of course they will stop coming.”
“The world view you people exhibit is so narrow you sound like primitive natives.”
“I can’t believe any decent person would ever put ink in their body like that.”
“Did they warn foreigners to leave the beach as well? Surely they didn’t let them off but warn all the Japanese away?”
“I don’t really know, but I get the impression only total idiots go to the beach anyway.”
“Everyone knows people with tattoos are fools and criminals. They should be banned from all public activities.”
“A lot of Koreans have tattoos, so this ordinance is just like killing cockroaches, it’s the right thing to do.”
“If the ones who didn’t come all had tattoos they are better off without them!”
“Be sure to ban pitfall traps as well…”
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Remember kids, pitfall traps are dangerous and you mustn't come near them.
And son, all these Onii-chans and Onee-chans with tattoos are mental, you don't want to be mental?
the only problem now is that pitfall traps are generally deigned to remain unseen until you plummet into the depth so that advice is kind of useless
Maybe its 'cause of all the stuff I read on here, but it seems like alot of Japanese people are closed minded fools.
Japanese goverment are close minded fools. not people
...the goverment and 2ch
FTFY
2ch can suck my dick. Chances are that it'll be the only sexual activity with another sentinent mammal species in their entire live.
the problem is both 2ch and govermand have a bad insight about their stupid mind
eh, you need a majority to get elected buddy
so by your theory noone pays attention to the elections
now me? I'm gonna go with the electorate being full of old people.
Deciding about Japan by reading edited few comments on 2ch translated into English? How precise would that be?
A lot of people, everywhere, are close-minded fools.
Such is life :/
"Tattoo Ban"
Of course, people with tattoos can't have families... right?
*facepalm*
I like the one where a dude said people with tattoos are more likely to get cancer, and that they can't get mri's. Both of which are bullshit. The fun thing is mythbusters did tattoos and mri's. Had a little interferance but still worked just fine.
The thing about the Tattoo's and MRI's is that Tattoo ink from before about 20 years ago sometimes had tiny metal fragments in it that could cause discomfort/pain or even just distortion. Tattoo ink doesn't have those metal fragments in it anymore though.
But yes, that dude was still retarded.
Tanned Revy <333
If Kobe don't actually remove that "no tattoos allowed in the beach" rule, the numbers will keep on dropping. If I'm in Kobe and a friend of mine had tattoo on his/her body and we wanted to go to the beach but find out tattoos is not allowed, we'd stay away from that beach and go to another one, while recommending others to stay away from said beach. I want to enjoy summer with my tattooed friends as well and they definitely aren't bad people.
The tattoo ban is not what is causing the spectacular turnout drop. Most (non-Yakuza) Japanese, as well as most foreign tourists don't have tattoos, and are not affected.
However, Kobe has enacted quite some other beach regulations, which seem to have as their main purpose ‘making the beach boring for young people’ and that's where the real problem lies.
Actually almost every second young adult got a tattoo these days and they are actually the biggest part of the tourists in japan. Also the most people that are into visual kei have them.
I know that this is beside the topic here but: There are still people into visual kei out there?
That is not actually true. Tattoos are a rarity in Japan, and although some say they're getting more popular, they're still distinctly fringe.
For giggles, I'd have to ask them if they include tattooed on eyebrows in that ban... since they ARE tattoos by definition. I also recall it was very popular for Japanese women in the 80s and early 90s to get this specific type of tattooing done...
"Most" foreign tourists might not have tattoos, but a significant portion of them do. According to various research surveys, the number of Americans with at least one tattoo is around 30% or more among those in their 20s, 30s and 40s. All it takes is for someone in your family or group of friends to hear about the ban, and convince the entire group to do something else instead, or as a tourist, to visit a beach somewhere else. That number is likely lower among Japanese locals, but it certainly could be enough to affect the numbers of beach goers to some degree, along with the other restrictions put in place.
Of course, there are other things that could be affecting visitor numbers as well. The whole tsunami and nuclear disaster that occurred this spring likely put a lot of people out of the mood for beach trips. I can't imagine the bans on things like tattoos helped at all though. You'd really have to compare the drop in visitors with those in neighboring areas to get a better idea.
I'm fairly sure numbers are much lower in Japan, but good point.
@ Anon 02:50 :
"...a friend of mine had tattoo on his/her body..."
You can't determine your friend's gender?
Futanari?
He was making an example I think
The sentence starts with the word "If", it was a hypothetical situation.
Attempt to be funny and/or clever: Fail.
Families is the last thing I hear of from Japanese news (not only in SanCom). I would never have taken such measures.
ROFL at the dumb fuck who thought people with tattoos can't get MRIs they busted that completely on Myth busters.
And I that thought the US's bible belt had some ignorant people.
I'm not sure how much has been lost in translation but some of those posts make Joe six pack look refined and eloquent.
They seem to believe every myth and taboo ever created.
Pity the poor fools for not having mythbusters.
Japan needs its own Mythbusters series
It's like a joke. Putting aside this craven tattoo fixation, they really seem to be intent on making the beach as boring as possible.
I guess the birthrate is so low in Japan they've brewed some strange ideas about what "family friendly" is.
wooo tattoo is too gangster for japan. people don't get a tattoo unless it means something to them or it's stylish unless your an idiot and getting yourself a happy smile face on your arm. before seeing this resolve wouldn't you think japan would notice that most of the younger people go to the beach? just look at the beach of how many youngsters are there and calculate how much income your losing after this incident because everyone hates a faggot cop that tells you you cant do things or have things on so who would go to the beach while the cops nagging you about everything.
Most people get tattoos because they look cool, only people on reality TV attach a meaning to every different tattoo they have.
Not everyone with a Tattoo is a criminal, or im wrong about that?
“Tattoos are proof you are a criminal. This is Japanese culture. This is Japan, you criminals!”
Obviously you are wrong, right?
But this still doesn't mean non-Japanese can use their hot springs.
(^_^)v
PS: Get an MRI
Sure you can. I dood it. And I'm hairy as a sonofabitch. And got a tatoo. So I wear an extra large waterproof bandage over it.
Weird fuckers... I'd be more skeezed out to see a big bandage in my bath water than a tattoo. If anyone asked, I just told them the bandage was to cover my huge impetigo sores.
They want my tourist dollars in their radioactive mitts, they can just shut the fuck up.
Then there must be about a hundred criminals that I work with. I work at an animation studio and I would say 60% of the people have tattoos.
This, and the other ordinances, show how stupid ordinances banning things for "families" can be. Funnily enough, it's actually the opposite here in Miami--families end up going to other beaches besides South Beach because they're the only ones that allow things like dogs and barbecues on the sand. Having been to Kobe's beach and lived in Miami for 15 years, they're of course not at all comparable, but that still might be a better route to go.
Hopefully these and other Ishihara-type censorship laws get repealed soon as the sum effect is hurting an already ailing economy by banning a lot of legitimate commercial activities.
These, and other ordinances like them, are against human rights and should be challenged in court EVERY SINGLE TIME they are passed and voided by any judge who sees one come in front of them, no matter if it is Japan, China, or the US.
My father has three tattoos and is an upstanding member of society.
He's friendly, regularly does favours for people and is quite hard working.
He doesn't even like swearing.
So, are 2ch and the Kobe Government really saying that my dad is an unwanted criminal?
Morons. Prejudiced fools.
Pretty much, and the main proof of there idiocy is the fact that many people in the military of U.S England and Japan get tattoos of there branch and the one's they love(mostly names) to remember what they fight for.
This, since my uncle had a small tattoo of my grandma's name on his arm, and this article makes me sad.
Thing is Tattoos were fine in Japan until the Meiji govt. outlawed them to make Japan more "Western" looking. Because they outlawed them anybody having one was considered a criminal.
(I don't know how you were supposed to get rid of it back then)!?
Now tattoos are a fashion statement in the West, maybe Japan will eventually follow suit and lighten up.
And don't forget the Yakuza connection as well.
They were not fine. Criminals were tattooed as a punishment...
You sure you know what your father have done in order to become an "upstanding member of society"?
Yeah, my dad had a bunch of tattoos that he got when he was young, some related to being in the Air Force at the end of WWII. He was a cop for years and years after getting out of the service, ran for mayor of my hometown, etc.
Clearly a hooligan.
“I don’t really know, but I get the impression only total idiots go to the beach anyway.”
Haha! Comrade!
Stupid ocean!
"Wizard" level wisdom, right there.