Japanese footballer: “If you live in Japan, forget about tattoos.” Access to those tattooed to public facilities, including swimming pools and thermal baths, is restricted

Although abroad it is commonplace to see current and former football players who display their complicated tattoos throughout the body, in Japan is a completely different story. In a country where the tattoo has been legalized since 1948, Yuki Kobayashi, a midfielder and a former member of the national team of Japan, is a minairitar that wears tattoos on the arms, shoulders and back.

J. League players and national lots are not forbidden to have tattoos. But they are encouraged to cover them in official events.

In Japan, the access of tattooed people to public facilities, including onsen thermal pools and baths, is largely restricted due to social stigma, as a result of the historical connection with the Yakuza members.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Kobayashi, 33, explained why he made his tattoos and offers tips to people who think about making some bodily art.

Question: How old were you when you made your first tattoo?
Kobayashi: I was 23, I was the fifth year as a professional player. I became curious about body ink after a Japanese tattoo, who lived in Los Angeles, drew me an image with my face on the tibia defenses I used while playing.

The tattoo artist advised me not to tattoo because I was living and playing in Japan. He didn't want to tattoo me. I was puzzled by his refusal, considering that he earns his existence as a tattoo artist.

I studied how tattoos evolved in Japan and learned that they come in pack with a negative image, because there is a persistent perception that meanings are used by “bad” from the outskirts of society. But I decided to make one from a tattoo. I was mentally prepared to live with this for the rest of my life, even after retreating from football.

Q: What was your family's reaction?
A: My first image was inspired by my mother's name and sisters. They were all delighted to see it. I expected my father to get upset because of the tattoo, but not upset, to my surprise. He was disappointed because my tattoo didn't bore his name. Later, I added his name.

I make sure I wear a long sleeve shirts to cover me when I attend a business meeting. I have no intention to display them. Although I live in Japan, I think about how others could think and the context in which I am.

Q: So your tattoos are meant to be a form of self -expression.
A: Each of my ink drawings describes my mood from that moment. I had the tattoo with a tiger on my right arm when I was 27. At that time, I was playing for a European club and I was selected in the national team of Japan. After those experiences, I felt that I was becoming satisfied with itself and that I was losing my desire to be extremely competitive. I knew I had to do something about it. My answer was to make my tattoo with a tiger that catches the prey. It was the expression of my decision that I will work hard to reach the next level, taking advantage of opportunities against the rivals, even against my teammates.

The ink on my arm reminds me that football is the only way to live my life. I moved to a club in the Japanese football league, three leagues below, from a club in the first J1 division of the Japanese League this season. I will climb again.

Q: Do the people around you accept your tattoos?
A: I do not pay much attention to how others perceive my tattoos. But there was this incident. One day, when I was in a cafe, a waiter, returning in a certain direction, told me that a customer there did not like to see my tattoos.

When I was a member of the national team, I was wearing long-sleeved tassels because the staff told me that the sponsors are reluctant to tattoos. Players can earn their existence due to financing from sponsor companies. So it is natural to do what is expected of us.

I didn't wear Maieu when I scored my first goal as a member of the national team. I went unexpectedly from the bench in that match and I was simply not prepared. The next match was to take place in Saudi Arabia, where the temperature was almost 40 degrees. I wore Maieu during a bus trip to the stadium there. It was an unbearable heat.

Q: Have you played bearing mays in J. League to cover your tattoos?
A: As J. League does not establish any provision that restricts the tattoos, I did not cover them while playing. When I sign a contract with a new club, I ask the club officials if it is okay to have tattoos.

Q: How are tattoos perceive abroad?
A: In Europe, not only players, but also managers are the ones who wear their tattoos. When I was in a cafe in Europe, a stranger spoke to me praise about my tattoos, calling them “very strong”. In South Korea, tattoos seem to be more accepted as fashion than in Japan.

Q: It seems that more and more Japanese young people have tattoos in recent years.
A: The tattoos become more and more fashionable in Japan, but it remains true that it will be better without them if you live in Japan. Many parents will oppose the plans of their children to tattoo from concern about their future. Will the tattoos school accept? Young tattoos could have fewer career options.

Yuki Kobayashi, born in 1992 in Tokyo, plays for the Iwate Grulla Morioka in the Liga of Football Japan, which is the first division of football amateur players. Kobayashi is a former member of Japan's national team and has played for clubs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Qatar and South Korea.