Hot springs that allow entry to people with tattoos ♪

Every year many foreign people come to Japan to live or travel.

In recent years, Japan has become more international, with restaurants and other stores offering menus written in various languages, and staff who can speak foreign languages. So even if you cannot speak Japanese, you can still enjoy living and traveling here without much difficulty.

With the Tokyo Olympics coming soon, the number of foreign visitors is expected to increase, and there are still many areas that Japan needs to improve to be able to handle the situation.

Among those, this time I will talk about tattoos.

What people in Japan think of tattoos

Recently, more Japanese people are getting tattoos.

However, in Japan, there are still many people who dislike temporary or permanent tattoos.

The reason is that anti-social groups, such as yakuza and gangsters usually wear tattoos, and in the old times, criminals were marked with tattoos on their forehead to identify them.
For these reasons, people often associate tattoos with negative ideas like “evil” and “criminal.”

Disadvantages of tattoos in Japan

Many of the foreign people who come to Japan or who have lived here since birth may have tattoos somewhere on their bodies.
Such people may find themselves at a disadvantage in Japan.

【The downsides of tattoos】
・They may not be allowed to enter a public beach or pool
・In many cases, facilities such as hot springs and public baths will not allow entry either
and more.

There are usually no particular problems when you go out or go shopping. However, if you are wearing a swimsuit or are naked and your tattoo is clearly visible, you may be refused entry.
It is not only because of what a tattoo looks like but also because some people find tattoos repulsive so the facility will consider it a hygiene problem.

Hot springs and tattoos

I think foreign people who come to Japan often come for sightseeing or to try the food, etc. However, there are also many who come to Japan to try the Onsen, traditional hot springs facilities in Japan.

It is a fact that many such facilities do not allow tattoos.

Some will, though, if you hide the tattoo with a sticker or something like that.

The main reasons for being refused are public morals and hygiene as described above, but if you have come all the way to Japan looking forward to a hot spring, you will feel disappointed if you cannot enter, right?

There are several sites where you can find information about hot springs and other places that allow tattoos.

Below are some for your reference.

①Tattoo Friendly
https://tattoo-friendly.jp/ja/

②Tattoo GO
https://ja.tattoo-go.in/

③Tatto Spot
http://tattoo-spot.jp/

【Author’s message】

I hope you found this article useful.

As the Tokyo Olympics will be held soon, I think it is necessary for Japanese people to know more about foreign cultures and be ready to welcome foreign people.

I am not only talking about more places like hot springs, public baths and pools allowing tattoos, but I think that Japan as a whole will make another step towards globalization.

In the coming decades, I see a Japanese society that embraces and accepts various cultures.