May 29 (the-japan-news.com) - While the number of foreign tourists to Japan increases, operators of bathhouses and other such facilities are perplexed, after the government approved a written statement that said access to public bathing facilities should not be restricted just because customers having tattoos, at a Cabinet meeting in February.
It is not unusual for people from other countries to get tattooed because of their culture or for fashion. But opposition to tattoos is still strong among Japanese bathhouse users and operators, partly for the purpose of keeping yakuza gangsters from those facilities.
A person related to the industry said, "It will take more time before people with tattoos are accepted."
The Public Bath Houses Law obliges public bathing facility operators to refuse entry to people with infectious diseases and to prevent customers from doing anything that will foul the baths, from the perspective of public sanitation.
The government's written statement said having tattoos alone does not adversely affect sanitary conditions, and thus having tattoos does not constitute a reason for refusing customers under the law.
However, the written statement does not have any binding power. An official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said, "We leave it to the judgment of facility operators whether they allow [people with tattoos] to use their bathing facilities."
