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1. 

   My step-daughter has our last name tattooed on her upper buttocks in katakana. It’s not my thing but at least she will always remember her maiden name should she ever decide to change through marriage. Better that ’supermarket’….

   Comment by Shane — December 21, 2007 #

2. 

   I guess it is equally important to find the correct meaning of a kanji word and also to have a tatoo artist who can etch the word correctly. You know, 1 wrong line can change the whole meaning

   Comment by lina — December 21, 2007 #

3. 

   I’ve been wondering about the whole onsen thing since I have three tattoos and plan to get more. I guess the best thing to do is ask before entering. I’ve also heard that some gyms won’t give memberships to 刺青がある人.

   As for my tattoos, I have いつか on the underside of my right forearm, 流 on my right shoulder, and 空即是色色即是空 on my back. I just love text. And yes, I cleared them with Japanese friends before getting the ink. The calligraphy for the one on my back was actually done by a friend.

   Comment by Adam — December 22, 2007 #

4. 

   a friend of a friend of mine, a big muscly tough guy got a hiragana tattoo on his shoulder. i dont remember what he meant to put there, but he ended up with おかま (okama) which means “homosexual”. he still hasnt been informed of this -_-;;;

   Comment by bulat — December 22, 2007 #

5. 

   Bulat, that story is so fun it almost sounds like fiction!

   I wonder if he meant to get おかあさん or おかん or something like that to mean “mother”. Talk about a “oops”.

   Just smile and tell him it’s cool if you see it. Smile and nod… smile and nod…

   Comment by harvey — December 22, 2007 #

6. 

   Hey Adam, likely if you ask, they’ll tell you no you can’t go into the onsen. Also gyms don’t allow tattoos either. Even if they’re covered up.

   I was being smart when I joined this gym and asked a bunch of questions, including, what about henna tattoos? They said no. So if you’re a Hindu who happens to have just been married and have the henna left over on your hands. No gym.

   So I asked about people with their eyebrows tattooed on. They said that’s OK.

   I asked what the difference was, they said basically, if it’s an “art” tattoo, it’s not allowed.

   Silly. But I guess they gotta keep the yakuza out.

   Hey Adam, what does 空即是色色即是空 mean? Wow, it’s a Kanji anagram! Almost. I don’t know that one please enlighten me!

   Comment by harvey — December 22, 2007 #

7. 

   I asked for a translation of “reality is an illusion” and what my friend wrote out is, I believe, a Buddhist saying to the extent of, Emptiness is the true state, the true state is emptiness. A Chinese friend saw the characters written out in my room and remarked, that’s Chinese! So I guess it works in more than one country.
   Hey, my tattoos aren’t art, they’re memos! But I figure I’ll just always be wearing long sleeves in Japan. I can’t imagine employers like to see visible tattoos either.

   Comment by Adam — December 22, 2007 #

8. 

   Ahhh I see how that works. Yes if I first saw it, I would have guessed it was Chinese as well. Modern Japanese rarely has strings of Kanji that long. It happens sometimes, but usually if it does it’s from some Chinese phrase or something. Good stuff!

   Comment by harvey — December 24, 2007 #

9. 

   I have a half sleeve and a bit on my chest. It’s done in the Japanese style, a very colorful scene depicting lotus blossoms and carp. No kanji though. I couldn’t bring myself to get any kanji after reading http://www.hanzismatter.com for the last few years.

   If you ask, they will always say no. Always.

   I find that the large sentos (public bathhouses) in town will have the “no tattoo” signs out front. As for smaller mountain onsen, I’ve never had a problem.

   If you want to be extra safe, ask a local tattoo shop. Some onsen are clearly tattoo friendly. I’ve heard the big one in Asakusa is full of tattooed locals. Gotta check it out…

   Comment by Brian — December 31, 2007 #

10. 

    Thanks for the hanzismatter blog! That’s great, I’m bookmarking it. I’m glad they were also confused about the ’supermarket’ tattoo. It seems it doesn’t mean supermarket at all!

    Comment by harvey — December 31, 2007 #

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