こんにちは！私は日本の温泉が有名な観光地に住んでいます。 Hello! I live in a famous sightseeing spot of a hot spring in Japan. 外国人の刺青は気になりません。 I do not care about foreign tattoos. ぜひ温泉を楽しんでください！ Please enjoy the hot springs! しかし、刺青を怖がる日本人が多いのは事実です。 However, it is true that many Japanese people are afraid of the tattoo. なぜなら、日本人で刺青を入れる人は、暴力団や素行の悪い人、社会的底辺の人が多いからです。 Because the Japanese people putting tattoos often have have something to do with gangsters, bad people and is located in low social statues. もし温泉で入浴を断られても、どうか気分を害しないでください。 If you were refused to take a bath in a hot spring, there is no need to be disappointed. 刺青を隠す必要はありませんが、もし気になるなら家族風呂をオススメします（時間制の貸しきり風呂） There is no need to hide the tattoo. But if you are concerned I will recommend to use a family bath (rental bath on a time basis)

Older Japanese people feel frightened of tattoos because yakuza usually have tattoos but most of younger generations don't think so. More and more onsen come to permit someone with tattoos these days so if you want to have onsen, you should try to look for such onsen. Of course there is no problem with someone with tattoos to visit Japan. We already have a lot of visitors with tattoos and we don't think something special about it.

Having lived in Japan as a foreigner, I can say "it depends." I don't have tattoos myself, but I have many friends who do. Based on what they have told me, having a tattoo might get you some looks here and there, but most people don't really care. They treat it as a personal matter and they wont often say anything, except to admire it perhaps. In the cities, especially, it's not much of a problem. In the country, you are more likely to experience comments or looks of surprise, but it's rare to hear words of out-right disgust or fear. That being said, you can and will be asked to leave from many (if not most) Onsen (hot-spring public baths) if you are caught entering with a tattoo. There will often be signs posted at the doors or in the locker rooms saying something to the effect of "Tattoos are forbidden! Please refrain from entering." Most of my friends have tattoos under their clothes, so they only become visible when they disrobe. They usually feign ignorance if there is a sign and go in anyway; only leaving if someone says anything about it. The stigma behind tattoos is based on a part of Japan's history in which criminals, when arrested, would be marked with a tattoo of some sort. As time went on gangs began to use tattoos as symbols of pride, which still extends into today with the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza. The association with tattoos and crime partially explains the discomfort some people may feel around those with tattoos. My friends have used their body art as a teachable moment at times and shown others that having a tattoo does not mean that you are a criminal or otherwise bad person; it is simply a form of artistic expression. I don't recommend what my friends have done, as that can just create an awkward situation, but use your own discretion. If you find yourself in an encounter in which someone is uncomfortable around you, politely explain to them what the tattoos mean to you and hopefully they will understand.