Bath houses in japan

[mrsbojangles]

Im travelling to japan this sumer and i'd really like to visit a bath house, but i have a large tattoo covering my back and i read somewhere (a long time ago ) that bath houses didnt allow customers with tattoo's ( gang warfare or something) Does anybody know anything about this?

[JonnoGenie]

I have been to an onsen on a number of occasions, and it is a lovely experience. Particularly when you come from skiing a mountain, and at the foor od the slopes is a ski-up traditional spa/steam room!

I'd suggest you might want to go with someone who knows the procedures though. As th staff likely won't speak English, unless it is pitched at a western market (not that I've seen, but they might exist at the high end these days?).

The places we went to, you went in, undressed, and then with no more than a long flannel, for your modesty, went to a row of 'positions' where you had a mirror in front of you, a hand held shower hose and soap. Here you scrub yourself spotless, every square inch, while sitting on a little stool. This area usually was adjacent to the hot plunge pools, with rows of hot and cold showers nearby... all one big open area. So, go in, change, clean up, then go and sit in one of the hot pools. Then it is traditional to go from a cold shower to hot a few times, before going back into a hot pool.

Bloody lovely!

[JonnoGenie]

But, yes, as you suggest, the Japanese are perhaps a little nervous of us westerners at times. They consider us hairy, loud, aggressive and individualistic. Anyway. So if you go somewhere local like an onsen, expect a few locals to feel a bit put-out. You probably won't even notice though... as long as your are respectful of how things 'should be done'.

Tattoos as you describe, in Japan, often equate to yazuza, or the local mafia, especially full back massages. A women with a full back massage might be considered, either low, or intimidating, or both.

An American friend had a nice anecdote. He went to an onsen. It had two plunge pools, and one was crowded and the other empty but for one guy. He went and climbed into the latter, only to notice that the man had a full yakuza tattoo on his back. After my friend climbed in, the yakuza immediately climbed out and left. Most Japanese would not share a pool with a yakuza, but it seems that Yakuza won't share a pool with a foreigner!