# Japanese professor: "If people in Japan see that you have tattoos..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950 "2011-02-02T23:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/41 "2011-02-04T02:34:24Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > I don’t think so. [Japanese style tattoos](http://psyten.exblog.jp/9317372/), favored by the _Yakuza_ are different than Western tattoos, and there’s a different word for them, _irezumi_. Western tattoos are called by the English word “tattoo.” I don’t think you can assume a Japanese would look at a foreigner with a tattoo as a criminal. That is one of the most popular styles of tattoo art in America, and has been for decades. I know a guy who is fully sleeved with Irezumi - he is a member of my Masonic lodge. (He has over $15,000 of work on him.) If an average American tattoo person has high-quality ink on him or her, there’s a good chance some of it is in the Japanese style. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/42 "2011-02-04T02:36:26Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > That is one of the most popular styles of tattoo art in America, and has been for decades. I know a guy who is fully sleeved with Irezumi - he is a member of my Masonic lodge. (He has over $15,000 of work on him.) If an average American tattoo person has high-quality ink on him or her, there’s a good chance some of it is in the Japanese style. I’m surprised I can’t see any stylized koi in that picture. They’re also very popular among the heavily tattooed. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/43 "2011-02-04T02:38:37Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Leaving aside the joke, that’s something I really don’t understand. Assuming you don’t look Japanese, why would they assume that everyone in the world gets tattoos for the same reasons as (many? some? most?) Japanese tattooed people do? Are they really that parochial? No more parochial than the SDMB. Every time a thread about tattooing comes up on the SDMB, a bunch of people will chime in to say that they assume that people with tattoos are criminals, former criminals, etc. In this day and age the vast majority of people with tattoos have never gotten worse than a traffic ticket and simple logic would point out that the sorority girl with a Japanese character on her back is probably not a hardened ex-con. Logic doesn’t always work. And it definitely doesn’t always work in Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/44 "2011-02-04T04:06:11Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > fowl-mouthed “You filed it, that puts me over the cluckin’ top, I want my Cadillac. I don’t wanna hear no cluckin’ shit and I don’t give a shit. Lingk puts me over the top. You filed it, it went downtown, now you owe me the car.” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/45 "2011-02-04T11:08:33Z")
> [@Tanaqui](#): > > and simple logic would point out that the sorority girl with a Japanese character on her back is probably not a hardened ex-con. . No, but a tattoo on the lower back has its own stereotype. 😉 She might wish people thought she was an ex-con. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/46 "2011-02-04T13:11:52Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > No, but a tattoo on the lower back has its own stereotype. 😉 She might wish people thought she was an ex-con. Yeah, people might think she’s _a girl who likes to have sex!_ I know I would prefer being thought a felon to that horrifying possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/47 "2011-02-04T19:31:29Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > _shrugs_ Depends on where you hang out. I’ve known what Yakuza means for a long time, but I am also interested in Japanese culture. FWIW, I’m not particularly interested in Japanese culture, and I’m well aware of the existence of the yakuza. I don’t think they’re that obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/48 "2011-02-04T21:01:51Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Oh come on :), there are still sailors with an anchor tattoo on their biceps? > Does he eat a lot of spinach? He’s about 65, so maybe not so surprising. My uncle had one too, although he was even older. **storyguide3** , I see your point of course, and I actually knew that. I still just have trouble wrapping my head around it. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/49 "2011-02-04T22:18:39Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Is it that hard to believe? I’ve heard of the Japanese mafia, but didn’t know the term Yakusa until it was explained here. Same. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/50 "2011-02-05T16:57:47Z")
A friend in Japan who popped over to teach English put a photo on Facebook of him in a dark suit for a night out. I found I had to ask him if anyone thought he was aping the Yakusa. Apparently a few of his colleagues (Japanese or not, I didn’t ask) thought the same. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950/51 "2011-02-06T00:00:32Z")
> [@storyguide3](#): > > I had heard of Adelstein before as he is known in gaming cricles as the guy who got the yakuza to [review a video game about yakuza.](http://boingboing.net/2010/08/10/yakuza-3-review.html) The man is made of balls. “Don’t say gaijin. Say Gaikokujin. It’s more polite. Jake’s a gaijin.” I love that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-professor-if-people-in-japan-see-that-you-have-tattoos/569950.md?page=2)