Due to its unique and super popular style of tattoo artistry, plenty of Aussie travellers who head to Japan often make sure to cop some fresh ink whilst there, but all that looks set to change with a newly enforced law which pretty much bans the practice all together.
It actually turns out most tattoo parlours in Japan have been acting illegally this whole bloody time, but it’s taken a so-called “landmark” court ruling in Osaka this week for the nation-wide ban to start being enforced.
A 29-year-old tattooist named Taiki Masuda was found guilty of violating the Medical Practitioners’ Law and fined 300,000 yen ($3,400 AUD) last week and the fallout from the decision will most likely rock the huge tattoo industry.
It turns out to legally be able to tattoo someone in Japan you need to be a full-blown licensed doctor, which, you know, normally takes a bit shy of a decade to achieve, meaning most tattooists country-wide are practicing illegally.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZw7GJEAZck/?taken-by=haku_tattoo
Masuda is planning on challenging his conviction and whilst the law does not target people receiving tattoos in Japan, meaning you won’t be chucked in jail for getting “I LOVE CHERYL” inked on your arsecheek in Japanese next trip, it might see the industry move underground in an attempt to avoid a possible crackdown.
P.S: Of course you don’t need to go all the way to Tokyo to get an authentic Japanese style tatt, as this very writer found out last year (on camera, mind-you) visiting this place in Surry Hills for a story.
