Amidst Japan’s ever ongoing campaign to hound tattooed deviants from public places, Saitama may now lead the pack – the prefecture has been excluding record numbers of people with tattoos from public pools, boasting that one pool managed a record-setting “180 in a day.”
According to the authorities managing Saitama’s prefectural pools, a severely enforced blanket ban on tattoos has, surprisingly, resulted in a decrease in the number of visitors with tattoos, and they claim a corresponding increase in the number of non-deviant family users.
One of their chief security staff, a 62-year-old former police officer, explains just how trying their ordeal was:
“Last year we excluded a record 180 people a day. From morning to night, we were so busy we had no time for lunch even. The guys with female companions were the most persistent.”
With such diligent efforts this particular facility managed to throw out an average of 50 tattooed deviants a day.
Whilst in 2010 the prefecture did generously allow customers wearing full body swimsuits which concealed their body art to make use of its public facilities, it says this resulted in yakuza infiltration and has since tightened the ban.
It is claimed that tattooed attendees provoked complaints from frightened members of the public and that cleaning staff were too afraid to approach them, making it impossible to clean some areas.
Rather than fall prey to the mistake of thinking that not all tattooed individuals are yakuza operatives bent on intimidating the public, the authorities have instead announced a zero-tolerance ban on all tattoos in their facilities, including so-called “one point” western-style fashion tattoos, hitherto not known for signalling gang affiliation and increasingly popular amongst young men and women.
Just what proportion of those banned from such facilities for having tattoos are actually the syndicate members anyone inked in Japan is presumed to be is not clear – as is the proportion of pool-going criminals, organised or otherwise, who manifestly do not advertise their status with a handy indelible mark on their body.
The question of whether tax-paying and law-abiding prefectural residents deserve equal access to facilities run with public funds also appears not yet to have been broached.
Online the policy has won the local authority much praise in any case, with bullying disliked minorities proving as popular a policy as ever:
“Good job!”
“Can’t they ban them from beaches too?”
“I saw a pool in Kawaguchi where a tattooed bunch were just swimming and making merry as if it was totally normal!”
“How can those Osaka civil servants think it is OK to have tattoos after hearing this!?”
“That they had 180 people with tattoos coming in a day is pretty odd.”
“This is great, they are getting rid of the ones with ‘fashion tattoos’ too! Yakuza and inked morons ought to keep their skin to themselves!”
“Tattoos are for outlaws, people with them ought to be shunned and not socialise in public like this.”
“I bet they are still soft on whites with tattoos though!”
“The bath house near me will chase you out just for having a one point tattoo too.”
“Wait, so they banned people from coming with swimsuits covering their tattoos? Do they strip search them now or what?”
“So I’ll be strip searched for wearing a full body swimsuit because I don’t want to get burned?”
“The fact that none of these tattooed guys who get thrown out and lectured about it actually caused trouble in response says something too I think…”
“They should make pools just for tattooed people, with extra-high fees and police to watch them.”
“What kind of idiot would go to a Saitama open-air pool anyway? The prefecture is full of rivers.”
“Children go to those pools. Only homosexuals get tattoos, go to a sauna you freaks!”
“Yakuza with no money swaggering about a public pool like that! Tattooed people ought to be shot.”
“Nice to see some old fart getting a government pay check for no good reason actually doing something useful for a change.”
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Hell, I bet that security guard in the picture has a tattoo too.
Ironic really, reminds me of what happened when I flew to Toronto one time.
Pulled up by the border control because of a tattoo on my right hand, implied I was a criminal and it must of been a prison tat. Cue 2 days later, watching the Toronto local news over breakfast, "over 80% of Toronto airport's security and border staff are ex-convicts..."
Cheeky effin' bastards.
God damn. So if I have one and I will go into bath in Japan, police will ask me get out?
not the police, but the staff will. They even have signs in english and various foreign languages to make sure people know of this rule, since most foreigners seem to still not know.
The look of indignation on foreigners when they make some planned visit to an onsen just to get rejected at the door is pretty funny. Do some research first.
Do some research first...? Perhaps it's just that people from civilized nations who don't make every piece of skin art into a federal case wouldn't consider the fact that another so-called civilized nation would be so indignant about the word "MOM" with a heart around it in memory of their mother who died of cancer.
I can't stand tattoos and consider them the mark of foolish short-sightedness. But the Japanese are proving themselves to be more idiotic in this case than I had previously given them credit.
If the Yakuza are such an issue still, keeping them from a public pool is the least of the country's worries. What a collection of mindless sheeple they are turning out to be. Just because something useless is done with taxpayer's money because someone may or may not have made a decision about their skin, and because stupid people can see it happen, they think something is actually being done about anything?
Good to know America and Japan share in their stupidity about politics. Brothers in arms down to the bitter end of freedom and understanding.
gaelstrom, your name and your avatar are kind of stupid.
you know, you can go into your "my account" and change them.
This isn't about politics it is about what is a social norm. Tatoos had a stigma attached to them in the very recent history of most western countries, just because they have become acceptable there doesn't mean the rest of the world has to follow suit like mindless automotons. Tatoos are a choice people make and in a country like Japan they know the social opobrium attached to them. Acting indignant or angry about things that people have done to themselves is just silly.
I can do many things, but regardless of perception of my chosen screen name or avatar, none of the things I do will be at the behest of a coward who hides behind anonymity in order to chastise or insult over the internet.
"I can do many things, but regardless of perception of my chosen screen name or avatar, none of the things I do will be at the behest of a coward who hides behind anonymity in order to chastise or insult over the internet."
give your real name, address, and phone number, right now.
either that, or admit you're an idiot. your choice =)
It all sounds like BS to me, I doubt that many Yakuza make it a high priority to go and take control of a public swimming pool. They probably have their own freaking pools to go to. But because of this fear they just ban anyone with tattoos? That's the most retarded thing I ever heard, "social norm" or not.
I mean seriously people still think this way in the US and other western countries about piercings and tattoos. It's just proves how ignorant the staff and the people running these facilities really are.
@ Anon 2:31 I was thinking the same thing they probably have their own pools.
The problem is that in Japan tattoos are used mainly by a criminal organization that could kill you if they wanted. So people are afraid of goin to places where possible Yakuza members are. They are even afraid to talk to them, even more let their children around them.
*02:31 09/08/2012
"I doubt that many Yakuza make it a high priority to go and take control of a public swimming pool.They probably have their own freaking pools to go to."
The greater part of yakuza doesn't live in a stately mansion.
stupid yakuza who cannot live in a stately mansion often appears in the public domain.
I question the source of all the downvoting last night of all the logical messages, and the rampant upvoting of the messages that sound just like the closed-minded, fearful Japanese in the article itself.
Plus the posts in defense of tattoos being the choice of only criminals and delinquents, a mindset that doesn't really exist so intensely outside Japan, makes me think that they're trolling us.
By Japan's own admission there are differences in tattoos. If Yakuza tattoos are known, and their status is known inherently in your own culture, then you know the difference between a tattoo of criminal status, and a tattoo that exists out of sentimentality and personal choice.
Perhaps the people of Japan should once again stop being mindless, fearful sheep and stop pretending someone's personality and morality are represented fully by a single choice they made and... Oh I don't know... "Do some research first" on tattoos?
Personally I like tattoos, however my view depends on the individual case. If its some dumb teen getting a skull "cuz it looks cool" it's pretty freaking lame.
But if you plan and design the tattoo yourself (assuming you're artistically inclined) for the purpose of self expression or have meanings for each image then I approve.
I plan on getting tattoos some day but only after I'm completely sure of the design and colors.
You sound like a fucking attentionwhore.
Grief is a private thing,and should be kept that way.Walking around with some shitty ink in your arm just looks pathetic.
@ Anon 00:38
True, but at least I can be identified by my messages and will stand by what I say and will speak with someone about it. There is cowardice and then there is stupidity. Just because I am not afraid directly of being known what my views are, I'm also not stupid enough to trust that mindless children with a basic knowledge of the internet can't do things to cause trouble in my life if they knew who I am simply because I said something they disagree with. Granted I know how to track down people who do such things and see them prosecuted and in prison, but why go through the hassle for people who aren't worth the shit that comes out of their bodies?
"Granted I know how to track down people who do such things and see them prosecuted and in prison"
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
you don't even know what Tor is? jesus christ, and that's like internet 101.
"i know how to track down people! wait, what's the internet again?"
sooooooooooo pathetic
by the way, gaelstrom, your page is now bookmarked (along with the pages of a few other sancom users, such as the known christians on this site).
from now on, every comment you post on this site, i'm gonna reply with:
"Granted I know how to track down people who do such things and see them prosecuted and in prison"
have fun never escaping the memory of when you tried to be an internet tough guy, =)
"Granted I know how to track down people who do such things and see them prosecuted and in prison"
ahahahahahahaha
you don't even know what Tor is? jesus christ, and that's like internet 101.
"i know how to track down people! wait, what's the internet again?"
sooooooo pathetic
"Granted I know how to track down people who do such things and see them prosecuted and in prison"
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
you don't even know what Tor is? jesus christ, and that's like internet 101.
"i know how to track down people! wait, what's the internet again?"
sooo pathetic
I'll never understand why people have tatoos. Just about everyone of them is tacky or an eyesore. And the human body is a bad canvas for a tatoo.
Yeah, I agree.
They just look so... cheap.
well two fat guys
I frikkin wish they were `cheap` mine cost a fortune, have em and proud to show em.
Looks like some backwater country aint gettin my money, yay more for tattoos.......
I would rather sit next to a tatted person than a filth breath smoker, now that should be banned bloody drug addicts
Bonita Friedland of Lake Forest, Illinois put her hubbie's cock in the microwave when he complained about her tattoo. Bonita Friedland stripped at the Friedland Event to show off her tattoo of her hubbie's "member." Once his cock exploded in the microwave, it is only a distant member. See Bonita Friedland's tattoo of her hubbie "P.F." at the Friedland Event.
This type of discrimination is so outrageous that I just find it funny.
To think of that they won't allow Yakuza in their pools but accept them in their government is even more funny.
So if person with a Tattoo's can't use public bathroom's what would happen if he or she has to pee in a public area where people are?
They get arrested and go to jail. Catch 22 situation
Even riding transportation would if the Japanese think of that idea as well which would lead to another Rosa Park's Incident with a Japanese chick with tattoo's.
I could never see that happening in Japan. They're far too locked in to their social conformity rules.
I mean people get the "stink eye" on the train from passengers for eating or drinking or talking too loud don't they?
Erm, Public Bathhouse =/= Public Bathroom
gotta love the retarded side of japan xD
The Japanese are way too concerned about appearance.
And what's with the irrational fear of the yakuza anyway? They're criminals granted, but don't the mostly deal with loansharking and other petty crimes? Not like they'll kick your ass for looking them in the eye or cap you in the middle of the street so they can take your shoes.
Yakuza are still better than Tokyo DIET
This is true and many Japanese probably would agree.
Well, I wouldn't want to go to a pool knowing that there could be a bunch of thugs waiting in the change room or something, ready to harass me or steal my personal items.
Assuming that Yakuza would even go to a public pool, it is a safe bet they are not there to shake people down for loose change. You have far more to fear from the average pickpocket than you do some Yakuza who decided to spend the day getting some sun at the pool.
Yakuza would not want to steal your items as actual members probably make more money in a week then you make in a year.
There's a reason why some people choose a life a crime as organized crime such as drug trafficking,white slavery,and extortion of businesses is big money.
This is also why is so hard to get rid of organized crime they pay people off and as corrupt as the Japanese police are this means they pretty much have free reign.
Conduit, you got voted down but you are exactly right.
You should be more worried about the average person at the pool than the average Yakuza at the pool. They are probably just there to swim and have some fun, they are not going to start trouble.
@ Conduit your pretty much spot on a Yakuza would not bother with stealing some average Joe's personal items that's the realm of street thugs and rouge teenagers.
"...kick your ass for looking them in the eye or cap you in the middle of the street so they can take your shoes."
That sounds kinda familiar... Do you live in the hood, good sir?
“I saw a pool in Kawaguchi where a tattooed bunch were just swimming and making merry as if it was totally normal!”
It is...totally normal. People just seem to overreact to shit that doesn't matter or affect them at all.
Ironically they probably don't throw out real yakuza because that would involve some level of risk.
It's said the laziest thing a politician can due is make a law banning something as it makes it look like they are doing something about a problem when in reality and are not doing jack shit.
I had to laugh at this post “Yakuza with no money swaggering about a public pool like that! Tattooed people ought to be shot.”
The real yakuza often have far more money then what a salary man can ever hope to see even if he makes middle management.
And that comes directly from making X and Y illegal. You would have thought that we would have learned that making things illegal just causes more problems in the long run.
/me wants famous American Superstar with tattoos to show up at one of these pools for the lulz.
Like David Beckham? Yeah! that'd make my day :D
"Like David Beckham"
Not sure if trolling or just stupid.
In Japan all white people are called amerika-jin
You mean gaijin.
They said 'AMERICAN' I hate to burst your bubble, but David Beckham is British.
I bet you think Hugh Laurie is from the good ol' USA too eh?
Doesn't matter, "celebrity" is "celebrity" as tattoo is tattoo regardless of where you're from.
The best would be like a Nobel for peace showing up with tatoos and get to be refused.
Or World War 2 concentration camp inmate, with his prisoner number tattooed.