A WARM aroma of citrus bath salts wafts through the lobby of the Thermae-yu spa in Tokyo’s Kabukicho district. The instructions at the entrance are chillier: drunks and people with tattoos should stay out. The sign, says Yuichi Ohama, the spa’s manager, is directed mainly at the gangsters who haunt the local area, a dense warren of brothels, cabaret bars and striptease clubs. Yet the staff increasingly find themselves turning away tourists, too, he laments: “We’re surprised by how many have body art.”
In Japan tattoos are associated with criminals. Many yakuza mobsters spend hundreds of hours under an inky gun having their entire bodies painted, as a sign of gang membership and to show they can endure pain. It is hard to keep these artworks out of sight, naturally, when wandering naked around a bath house. Yet the mere sight of a tattooed thug is enough to frighten other...Continue reading
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