When did showing respect become a big ask?

I’ve been astounded at the amount of online criticism of Japan concerning their request for players and tourists to cover tattoos during the rugby world cup in 2019.

I’ve read posts where people have called it “stupid”, “ridiculous” and “over the top”. I’ve also read posts where people have admonished Japan, proclaiming their tattoo culture is more important than Japan’s wishes.

I’ve also read posts where people think Japan shouldn’t have been successful in their bid to host the 2019 world cup due to having expectations as to how visitors to their shores should act.

I just hope none of those people ever complain when tourists visit their countries and do what they want.

World Rugby, as the conduit for Japan, have not said tattoos are forbidden. If people had read the entire article, they would’ve seen this.

have fans overreacted to World Rugby’s tattoo talk? (Photo by David Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)

They’ve merely passed on a request to cover any visible tattoos in public places, “to avoid causing offence”. In fact, what World Rugby have said is that they “won’t force any teams to cover up” but believe they will “want to because they [will] want to be seen to be respecting the culture”. So what’s the big deal?

Now the whole tattoo thing in a Japanese context is interesting. There is a long history of traditional tattoos in Japan. From antiquity, tattoos have been used in Japan for a range of things, “from branding criminals to tying lovers together, and even as talismans to protect men working dangerous jobs”, according to the ABC.

Irezumi, Japanese tattooing, can be traced back to clay figures with tattoo-like markings made during the Jomon Period (10,000 BC-300 BC). Then later in the third century, “Chinese records noted that all Japanese males bore heavy tattoos on their faces and bodies”.

In the 17th century, criminals were branded with tattoos as a way to deter others from committing crime. In the Edo Period (1603-1867) “criminals would get the Tokigawa symbol on the back of their necks to avoid the death penalty”, according to Vice.

However, what many think of as Irezumi, “has its roots in classic ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the mid 1700s”, according to SBS. For the indigenous Ainu, from the Hokkaido region, “tattooing was exclusive to females, as was the profession of tattooist”. In Okinawa, tattoo was also primarily a custom for females: “all adult women bore hand tattoos called hajichi that were made from awamori alcohol and ink”.

Ironically, in an attempt to stay off foreign (Western) invasion, Japan needed to appear civilized and, “One of the ways to project this image was to ban tattooing, which the Japanese government thought foreigners would regard as backwards or barbaric”.

At various points in Japanese history, “Japanese authorities prohibited the use of tattoos by the Ainu (and other ethnic peoples under their authority like the indigenous peoples of Taiwan) in attempts to dislocate them from their traditional cultural practices and prepare them for the subsequent process of Japanization”. These “anti-tattooing ordinances were designed both to demonstrate to Western powers that these people were under Japanese rule and to homogenize them into the Japanese Empire”. The ban lasted until 1948 when American forces, during the US occupation, lifted the ban.

The introduction of domiciles with bathroom also impacted tattoos: “In the 1960s, more and more people began living in homes with indoor bathrooms so they stopped going to public baths where, in the past, they would have seen ordinary people — like carpenters and laborers — with tattoos”. It was also during this period that yakuza films started to become popular. Tattoos were traditionally more of a working-class phenomenon, and the decrease of seeing them publicly added to the suspicion surrounding who had them.

Unfortunately, irezumi had become associated with the yakuza, “who pledge their allegiance with full-body markings”. So it was easier (and perhaps safer) for establishments to have a blanket refusal of tattoos rather than ban yakuza. But it was because of this that the association of tattoos with the yakuza was born.

And it’s this association which is part of the reason behind World Rugby’s warning.

However, the other side has its roots in Confucianism.

While Japan isn’t a Confucius country per se, Confucianism has had a deep impact on Japan. Confucianism was introduced about 285 AD and although “was at its height in Japan during the Tokugawa era”, the influences can still be felt today.

One of the three obediences of Confucianism is filial piety. Confucius said, “Our body and hair and skin are all derived from our parents, and therefore we have no right to injure any of them in the least. This is the first duty of a child”. Now, while the word ‘tattoo’ isn’t mentioned, many people believe tattooing to be “completely averse to the prevalent notions of Confucian filial conduct”, with tattooing being “disrespectful to the person’s parents, who created [their] body”.

So the so-called ban issued by World Rugby isn’t as clear-cut as just having links to organised crime, and the complexity doesn’t stop there.

One of the irezumi masters, Horiyoshi III, a tattooist favored by the yakuza, refuses to do tattoos above the neckline and on the hands because he believes, as quoted by SBS, “the beauty is in what you can’t see”.

Horiyoshi III said to Vice that, “People get tattoos here knowing they won’t be showing them off all the time and that’s why we don’t take our tattoos lightly. Our spiritual culture is different from other countries because when we show our tattoos, it takes the form of a mysterious light that’s hidden and beautiful”.

Or, as traditional irezumi artist Alex ‘Horikitsune’ Reinke said to the BBC, “Showing your tattoos in Japan is an assault on the viewer”. It’s considered a personal thing – not something for public display.

But times are definitely changing in Japan An incident in 2013 involving a Māori academic, Erana Te Haeata Brewerton, who was denied entry to a hot spring due to her ta moko, resulted in a senior cabinet minister saying, as quoted in the NZ Herald, “greater respect needed to be shown for foreign cultures – in particular, ahead of events like the Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics”.

In 2015, the Japanese Tourism Agency surveyed around 3800 ryokan (traditional inns) about their attitudes to tattooed guests, finding that that 56 per cent would refuse guests with tattoos, 31 per cent would not refuse entry, whereas 13 per cent would permit entry – but only if the tattoos were covered.

It would be interesting to see if those statistics have changed since the survey was taken – but the underlying message is, do some research!

That’s been made easier thanks to the creation of a website, Tattoo Friendly, which was launched earlier this year. The website lists more than 600 businesses (hotels, inns, hot springs and public bath houses, gyms, pools and beaches) across Japan and gives its readers an idea as to how accepting those business will be of tattooed guests.

In general terms, tattoos aren’t accepted in Japanese society but, as CNN writes, “as attitudes in Japan, particularly in the younger generation, modernize and inbound tourist numbers rise, operators have started to rethink their policies”.

Perhaps the greatest evidence as to the change in attitude is that, “Today there are an estimated 3,000 tattoo artists working in Japan, compared to approximately 200 in 1990″. So all those knee-jerk criticisms weren’t really justified.

But,and it’s a big but, what gives us the right to criticise Japan on its tattoo stance? They’re not issuing threats of deportation if you have a tattoo.

The headlines from around the globe were nothing more than clickbait because there is no ban. Use of the word ‘ban’ in the headlines was there for one reason alone – sensationalism.

People should try reading the accompanying article before voicing their opinions.

So this is where Japan, World Rugby, rugby players and all the rugby tourists stand. Tattoos aren’t banned, but people have been asked to cover them up in public places.

How hard is that? Is respect only a one-way street? What about respecting the wishes of the country you’re traveling to?