them; whether they be something on the shoulder blade, upper arm or the delightfully named “tramp stamp” above the butt. However, on Japanese girls they are much rarer. In Okinawa, when I see a Japanese girl with a tattoo, I will immediately think one of 3 things: 1) She’s a hardcore diver/surfer, who probably got it when she was travelling somewhere in Asia
2) She’s connected to the Yakuza (usually applicable if it’s the full-back tattoo which you can see to the right)
3) She’s got a military boyfriend/husband
The latter is the one I’d like to focus on. Firstly, the chronology of said tattoo – did she get it before the military partner (and was it done as she thought it would get her a partner?), or did the boyfriend come first. And then what caused her to get the tattoo if she started seeing the guy first – was it that she saw more western women around bases with tattoos and it became more appealing to her; was she attracted to them by her new boyfriend’s tattoos, or did she think it would make her look more westernized?
I apologise if I somehow offend anyone in this post by generalising or stereotyping. This definitely is not the case but it’s a thought that often goes through my head when I see ink on a Japanese girl. Does anyone have any thoughts on this one?
