Psychophant's Rants
1.9.10
Photos I did not take in Japan. The Yakuza.
This trip I did see two possible yakuza members. Maybe I am more aware, or just more lucky.
The first one was just a glimpse, at the public bath in the hotel in Kyoto. The bath, in the top floor with interesting views of the Kyoto tower and little else, was a typical specimen, including the note about people with tattoos not allowed to use the premises. I had managed to use the bath with a small crowd of Japanese tourists without embarrassing myself, which is not so easy, including approved use of the pail and adequate soaping and unsoaping. When I was leaving the bath, I noticed a ripple of movement and a sudden silence. Then a young man, with only the same small towel we had, came in, with a full sleeve tattoo, wrist to shoulder, in the quite popular Tiger and Dragon motif. The bath emptied in the time it took me to finish drying and put my yukata on. I suppose nobody contacted the management about the rules infringement, but I did not stay to watch.
The second one was more complete, riding a bus also in Kyoto. Stopped at the congested Shijo-Karamusa crossing, I noticed that the man in the car besides us had a leg tattoo, visible because unlike most Japanese men, even in summer, he was wearing shorts. A moment later I noticed that what I thought was a long-sleeved t-shirt was actually a colourful shirt with the sleeves torn and tattoos underneath. The guy looked Samoan, built like a rugby player, playing with two small children while waiting for the traffic to open. The car was the deciding factor, as the guy seemed too excessive to be the real thing. It was a small and decidedly unsexy Nissan Cube, but pimped to death, with a giant crystalline shift gear, nacreous steering wheel, sheepskin seats, and huge sound system. The small detail of having both plates angled (at 45ยบ, much more than simple chance) through the use of metallic shelving supports, so they could not be photographed, seemed also part of the status show-off, as that car would have difficulties breaking any speed limit. The kids seemed to enjoy climbing over the man, while he bore it with great patience, even if he was able of lifting the girl with one hand as if he was handling a cat. Could not see the plates to see if they were local, or if yakuza take family holidays too. ¶ 9:36 PM
This trip I did see two possible yakuza members. Maybe I am more aware, or just more lucky.
The first one was just a glimpse, at the public bath in the hotel in Kyoto. The bath, in the top floor with interesting views of the Kyoto tower and little else, was a typical specimen, including the note about people with tattoos not allowed to use the premises. I had managed to use the bath with a small crowd of Japanese tourists without embarrassing myself, which is not so easy, including approved use of the pail and adequate soaping and unsoaping. When I was leaving the bath, I noticed a ripple of movement and a sudden silence. Then a young man, with only the same small towel we had, came in, with a full sleeve tattoo, wrist to shoulder, in the quite popular Tiger and Dragon motif. The bath emptied in the time it took me to finish drying and put my yukata on. I suppose nobody contacted the management about the rules infringement, but I did not stay to watch.
The second one was more complete, riding a bus also in Kyoto. Stopped at the congested Shijo-Karamusa crossing, I noticed that the man in the car besides us had a leg tattoo, visible because unlike most Japanese men, even in summer, he was wearing shorts. A moment later I noticed that what I thought was a long-sleeved t-shirt was actually a colourful shirt with the sleeves torn and tattoos underneath. The guy looked Samoan, built like a rugby player, playing with two small children while waiting for the traffic to open. The car was the deciding factor, as the guy seemed too excessive to be the real thing. It was a small and decidedly unsexy Nissan Cube, but pimped to death, with a giant crystalline shift gear, nacreous steering wheel, sheepskin seats, and huge sound system. The small detail of having both plates angled (at 45ยบ, much more than simple chance) through the use of metallic shelving supports, so they could not be photographed, seemed also part of the status show-off, as that car would have difficulties breaking any speed limit. The kids seemed to enjoy climbing over the man, while he bore it with great patience, even if he was able of lifting the girl with one hand as if he was handling a cat. Could not see the plates to see if they were local, or if yakuza take family holidays too. ¶ 9:36 PM
