Saw something weird in a Japanese onsen... nobody warned me about the tattoo rule

I went to Japan last spring and tried a public bath in Kyoto. I have a small tattoo on my ankle, nothing crazy. The lady at the front desk pointed at a sign and shook her head... I didn't understand until another guest translated. Tattoos are basically banned in a lot of onsens because of yakuza connections. I had to leave and find a tattoo-friendly one about 20 minutes away. Has anyone else run into this kind of body art taboo in other countries?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese8626d ago

Oh man, that happened to me in Osaka! I have a little cherry blossom tattoo on my wrist, nothing crazy right? The onsen lady literally pointed at the sign and then at my wrist like I was some kind of criminal. I felt so embarrassed. My friend had to explain the whole yakuza thing to me while we were walking out. We ended up finding this place that specifically said "tattoo friendly" on their website, but it was a bit of a hike to get there. Totally worth it though, the water was amazing once we finally got in!

daniel55226d agoTop Commenter

Yeah that happened to me in Kyoto a couple years back. I had a tiny kanji on my ankle and the old lady running the place almost threw my towel at me. The whole yakuza thing is real there, they dont mess around. Next time just google "onsen" plus "tattoo friendly" before you go anywhere. There's actually a solid list on Japan Guide that covers most of the major cities, saved me a lot of hassle.