Living with Tattoos

A Case study of Young People Managing a Hip Hop and Streetwear Store in the Tokyo Suburbs

抄録

From the 1980s, tattoos were no longer considered peculiar by middle-class western society. This is not the case in Japan, where tattoos are regarded as socially undesirable and those with tattoos remain in the minority. Tattooed individuals face several limitations in Japan, particularly insofar as tattoos are associated with the Yakuza and their irezumi tradition, making tattoos disadvantageous to those who get them. However, tattoos are necessary for the core life practices of some Japanese individuals. Through an ethnography of young people in Chiba city, this study explores the way in which tattoos serve to forge special ties between people. For these individuals, getting tattoo signifies a deviation from the norms of general society and subordination to the norms of their community. Tattoos provide an alternative way of life in the context of destabilized employment and neoliberalism. Exploring these dynamics, this study illustrates the differences between mainstream Japanese society and the community created by these young people.