[Tenchu]

Originally Posted by MMM

Unfortunatlely I am not the cartoon character you like to think I am, and if you seriously think I would support price gouging foreigners then over the last couple years you have learned nothing about me. You want to paint me into this "asiaphile" paint-by-numbers, but the surprises are going to keep coming because that isn't me.

Well, it really does come as a shock.

I suppose it's a poor assumption. Like, just because someone's gay, it doesn't mean they want to have sex with every man around. I guess you're the same as this.

Originally Posted by MMM

Funny how inside jokes and sarcasm don't translate so well in text-based forums. Still, talking about beating me in the head with a baseball bat is a "joke" that won't be tolerated again.

Oh grow up, old man. Don't make this forum into a pink pillow slumber party.

Originally Posted by MMM

I suppose Japanese people should accept tattoos and wearing shoes inside the house and eating only with forks and spoons and drinking and driving, etc.

I am not sorry, Tenchu, when I say it just doesn't work that way. That doesn't make me an asiaphile, that makes me a realist.

Do you use a desert spoon to eat a main course?

Japanese people use chop-sticks; it's their culture. Other Asians only eat with desert spoons because they had no culture when it came to eating; they used their hands.

Why should they make their house all dirty?

Are these supposed to be serious comebacks? MMM, this isn't the dark ages. Going to Japan is not some valiant quest where you'll have to slay dragons and get enlightened by 1,000 year old Taoist monks on top of cloudy mountains.

We live in the 21st century; immigration and travel are common things. Having such a huge taboo about such a broad range of people is clearly not appropriate in the modern world.

If Japanese are literally too stupid to realize having tattoos has nothing to do with being a gansta outside of their own population, then they clearly need some serious education on foreigners.

Originally Posted by MMM

You still haven't addressed the logic behind the answer to your issue of why tattooed people are not allowed into onsens (yakuza culture).

Well, my understanding is these Japanese tattoos the Yakuza use are very specific and easily identifiable. They're usually on the arms, but can also spread to the chest and back. They're brightly colored and almost always feature a dragon.

There is no way you could confuse the tattoos of a Buddhist monk or Muay Thai fighter, or a Maori with the tattoos of a Yakuza gansta. It's completely unrealistic to say you could confuse them.

Moreover, it is okay to frown upon people who disrespect their parents. However, tribal tattoos and Thai tattoos are exactley the opposite; they're fashioned in a way that idolizes your ancestors, parents and heritage.

In Muay Thai, not only do they have tattoos to respect their ancestors, their outfits are usually have bone fragments of their ancestors or parents if they're passed sewn into them to bring them good luck.

Acknowledging this, you can come to see how stupid it is to say both that it is disrespectful to your parents and also how stupid it is to associate this with criminals.

If they really dismiss people with non Yakuza tattoos, then it shows a great lack of respect and consideration for other people, and their culture. You could even go as far as saying they're also disrespecting that persons tribe (Maori, African), profession and parents (Muay Thai) and religion (Buddhist monks).

Originally Posted by MMM

So now tattoos are "free speech"? Maori, Muay Thai and "some African thing" are not a part of mainstream Japanese culture, so changing the rules for cultures that are wholly or almost in no existence in Japan is backwards logic.

Yes, it's freedom to express yourself without fear of social rejection. These hold very important and significant meanings to some people, and were they to travel, it would be very offensive to them to be excluded from social gatherings because of this.