Mattingly "AI & Prompt Design" - Introduction to Machine Learning"
Tattoo and Bathhouse Bans in Contemporary Japan
1. TATTOO AND BATHHOUSE BANS
IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
Professor Yoshimi Yamamoto
Tsuru University
2. MY PROFILE
Researching the cultural
anthropology of
Japanese tattooing since
the 1990s
Completed a PhD on the
modern history of
Japanese tattooing in
2000
Published books on
Japanese tattooing in
2005 & 2016 (Right: my
latest book, Tattoos and
the Japanese)
2
4. IREZUMI/TATTOO AND MULTICULTURAL
COEXISTENCE: “LEARNING ABOUT THE ISSUES
WITH
TATTOOS AND ONSEN”
March 30, 2019
International
symposium about the
issues with tattoos and
onsen
Nearly 180 participants
4
11. VARIATION OF THE WORD “TATTOO”
Irezumi(入墨)Originated as a punishment to criminals, and
later became generalized
Irezumi(入れ墨)Specifically used in newspapers
Gei(黥)One of the ancient way
Sumi(墨)Monmon(紋々)Gaman(我慢)
Old way used in Western Japan
Bunshin(文身)Generally used in written form, not used lately
Shisei(刺青)Junichiro Tanizaki, novelist, used in his first
novel and became popularly used
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12. WESTERN CULTURE AND TATTOO
Wabori/Yobori(Japanese style/Western style)Those words
were used in Japan after Tattoo was introduced in Japan
Tattoo(Generic terms used to indicate all tattoos, from
indigenous people to the present)
Ink (Term in English speaking countries)
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14. “People with tattoos may not
use the bath or the bathing
area.
These rules are all an
important part of our culture
and we ask that you respect
them.”
SIGN AT BATHHOUSE ENTRANCE
(IN TAKATSUKI CITY, OSAKA)
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15. SIGN PROHIBITING THE DISPLAY OF
TATTOOS AT SUMA BEACH, KOBE
In February 2011, the Kobe city government
proposed a bylaw banning people with tattoos from
the Suma Beach area. It was passed in April 2011.
Human rights issues?
Influence on other jurisdictions?
Kobe’s status as an international city?
15
16. ‘WE ASK PEOPLE WITH TATTOOS TO VALUE THEIR TIME AND MONEY’
TOKYO SUMMERLAND SWIMMING POOL WEBSITE
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18. TATTOO CULTURE WAS FOR
TRADESPEOPLE AND OUTLAWS
Messenger
Horichiyo, famed late 19th-
century tattooist
Database of
Nagasaki
University
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19. TATTOOS WERE USED FOR PUNISHMENT IN THE
EDO PERIOD
➡ THE SOURCE OF PREJUDICE TODAY?
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20. LEGAL RESTRICTIONS PRIOR TO 1948
In 1811 and 1842, Edo Government prohibits
tattooing
The Meiji Government, active in importing
Western civilization to Japan, saw tattooed
people as an embarrassment and placed
prohibitions on artists and clients in 1872.
A source of contemporary prejudice against
tattoo?
20
22. WHY ARE THERE
‘NO TATTOO’ SIGNS AT HOT SPRINGS,
PUBLIC BATHHOUSES AND BEACHES?
1963-1973, The Golden Age of the
Yakuza Film
Over 1000 yakuza films produced in
the following 30 years
22
23. POSTERS OF YAKUZA FILMS
Karajishi Jingi 1969
Bakuchiuchi Ippikiryu
1967
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24. Shura no Mure 1984 Mamushi No Kyodai 1971
POSTERS OF YAKUZA FILMS
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25. SOCIAL CHANGE AMID RAPID ECONOMIC
GROWTH
From the late 1950s, private homes
become equipped with showers and
baths, and public bathhouses start to
close.
➡ Fewer opportunities to see others
naked
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26. CHANGES IN JAPANESE SOCIETY
Mass-production of yakuza films led
tattoos to be seen as the mark of the
yakuza rather than the tradesman
Structural transformation of the
economy saw a shift from primary and
secondary industries to tertiary
(service) industry
➡Office dress regulations increasingly
prevent people from having tattoos 26