Wednesday 6 February 2013

Tattooed kewpie dolls

Asakusa is well known for the Sanja Matsuri and the obvious display of tattoos on almost naked, relatively well built men who may or may not have half a little finger.  I guess it's not so surprising then that kewpie dolls in Asakusa have the option of coming with tats.   I was a bit taken aback to see them though; tattoos are highly stigmatised in Japan, with many onsen, swimming pools, amusement parks not admitting people with visible tats. It's a relatively recent stigma though - legislated against by the Meiji govt. -  in Tokugawa times, tattoos were quite widespread, and it's an old tradition of the Ainu (though Ainu tatttoos  The recent influx of western tourists, many with tattoos might be softening the social prejudices that have developed, but not a whole lot.



 

2 comments:

k said...

oh my. i wonder if the dolls are meant for adults and not for children...

Cecilia said...

Sorry for the delayed response; I've been AWOL. Quite probably. I saw some today in Okachimachi... maybe there is more of a market than I had imagined.