Sydney_CP4

Well I had the greatest time talking to Yuki on Tuesday. I swear I learn the craziest things with him every time I hang out with him. On Tuesday we met in the Lounge at CIES, and we were actually in a group with Ioana and her conversation partner. I noticed that Yuki had many piercing in his ears so we compared each other’s. He has 4 in his ears and I have 6. We both want more though. We told each other that we should go together to get them. He wants to get upper cartilage pierced and I want to get my “rook” pierced (the inside hook of the ear). The piercing conversation eventually led to the topic of tattoos. I asked Yuki if he would ever want to get a tattoo and he was definitely excited about the idea, but in Japan it is highly frowned upon to get a tattoo. There is a saying in Japan, that if you get a tattoo you will probably not be going back home. It used to be a sign of “organized crime” or being part of “yakuza” or a gang. Nowadays it is fashionable for the youth of Japan, but “onsens” (hot springs) and public swimming pools regularly turn away tattoos patrons. I thought this was absolutely FACINATING! Yuki told me that people that have them, cover them up almost all the time because they will not be treated equally. Yuki and I found some amazing pictures of Japanese tattoos online. 

I did a little of my own research after. These traditional Japanese tattoos are extremely expensive, but they are also the most painful method to get a tattoo (expensive and painful NO THANK YOU?) They take this big “rod” with little tiny needles on the end of it and dip it into the ink and then jam it underneath the skin. I watched a documentary on it and I cringed everytime they did it.

Check this out!!!!!