@article{oai:geitan.repo.nii.ac.jp:00001722,
 author = {Nootbaar, Julie Joy and Nootbaar, Julie Joy},
 journal = {大分県立芸術文化短期大学研究紀要, Bulletin of Oita prefectural College of Arts and Culture},
 month = {Mar},
 note = {The practice of prohibiting people with tattoos from entering communal baths is common throughout Japan and has recently come under increased scrutiny as the country promotes its inbound tourism industry and continues to vie for hosting international sporting events such as World Cup Rugby in 2019 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic/Paralympic Games in 2021. This paper explores the history of the tradition of decorative tattooing alongside the history of the practice of communal bathing. Both practices have had connections with religion as well as pleasure, and both have continued as significant elements of Japanese society through the 20th century to today. However, with decorative tattooing becoming a symbol of subversive culture, in particular the yakuza, and communal bathing an integral part of popular culture, prohibition of people with tattoos from entering communal baths became common in the post-World War II era and remains so today. And though tattooing has gained widespread popularity around the world in the first two decades of the 21st century, the stigma attached to the practice remains strong in Japan. But with the rapid increase in inbound tourism, operators of communal bathing facilities, as well as the Japanese visitors to them, will reluctantly need to adjust their attitudes along with their policies, in order to meet the needs of international tourists and the norms of the world beyond Japan.},
 pages = {47--56},
 title = {No Tattoos in the Bath:An exploration into the histories of tattooing and bathing in Japanese culture and why the two don’t mix in contemporary Japan},
 volume = {60},
 year = {2023}
}