Shonan Beach Discrimination Series

 

This nice young man threw a tantrum after being denied access to the shops.

 

 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.

 

Then they came for the homeless, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not homeless.

 

Then they came for the tattooed, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not tattooed.

 

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

 

 

 

 

Got tattoos No service for you.

 

 

 

Not only are tattoos are a great way of keeping respectable Japanese women out of your bed, now they will keep you out of Shonan's best restaurants, bars and clubs. The summer of 2013 will be looked back at as a shameful time in Kanagawa Prefecture's history. It was the first year that all venues serving alcohol on the beaches were not permitted to admit anyone with visible tattoos. Tattoo enthusiasts from Japan are gentle and artistic people. They are only trying to express their individuality and are treated like dog shit when non-tattooed Japanese find out. It's the worst kind of discrimination as they are just like you and me. The only difference is they come in colors.

 

 

The tattooed and non tattooed can still mingle in the water- for now.

 

 

 

Everybody lock your doors, get a gun, protect yourself!  The Shonan area rich fucks condone illegal activities! The key point of the following exposition is that their practices are based on hate. Hate, jingoism, and an intolerance of another viewpoint, another way of life. It is high time for someone to indicate in a rough and approximate way the two fatuous tendencies that I believe are the main driving force of modern  Japanese classism. Will that someone be you? 
 
 
 

This disgusting behavior must be dealt with.








In my estimation, about 90-95% of the Shonan area residents are racists, anti-tattoo and hardcore anti-immigrant. I believe it is okay to have an anti-immigration stance if you can properly explain your position; being anti-immigrant because you don't like noisy Chinese or overweight Australians doesn't count. If you encounter any of these local people, they will have no problems letting you know that they don't like you within minutes of meeting you, they are simply expressing their beliefs.
 
 

"It's really nice not having the tattooed riff raff from Saitama in the shops this year."
 
 
 

Those locals feel that Americans are violent, rude, tackily tattooed and leave a huge mess behind. The  Australians and Brits are just generally tacky, hairy, overweight and hard on the eyes. The other 5%-10% of the people you meet in Shonan are the nicest people in the Japan, they are really genuinely nice people, super polite and very fuckable.
 
 

This local woman will no longer have to rub shoulders with the tattooed, she'll only see them when she rinses off her feet on the way home.
 
 

Shonan Beach Coordinator, Naomasa Sakonju (58), told me, 

 

“It's my job to enforce the rules. The wealthy and beautiful residents of the Muira Peninsula, Hayama, Chigasaki, Zushi, Kamakura and Enoshima have voted that music over 60-70 dB would be prohibited in any licensed beach house, and that patrons with visible tattoos would not be permitted entry at any establishment serving alcohol. This was requested because of trouble making American servicemen- who tend to be tattooed-and badly at that. Sadly, Japanese tattoo enthusiasts will also have to be denied service- as not to create an international incident with the US embassy. But, you can blame America for this." 

 

 

"Even untattooed foreigners tend to be an eyesore."

 

 

 

We do all of ourselves a disservice by claiming other people are anti tattoo, and by painting these people as crazed right wingers, or Freepers, or Storm Front members. There's no doubt that there are many residents who discriminate based on social class - but they are typically just the loud fringe. The majority of anti tattoo discrimination is subtle, or a knee jerk or sometimes it comes from those who don't mean to be prejudice at all. We even do ourselves a disservice of thinking of the wealthy Shonan residents as "those people" rather than taking a good hard look in the mirror first - and I mean that to even the most progressive of us, the most socially conscious of us. We all have our prejudices and we must all combat them, continually.

 

 

Even tattooed women have complexes. This gal hides her flat ass in a large,unflattering bikini.

Naomasa, The Shonan Beach Coordinator adds,

"Those tattooed and bad foreigners, I would like to ban them from the actual beach and water as well, but they're public property of Japan and would require a national vote.  I'm working on it for next year, though. I'd like to at least restrict these scumbags to Enoshima Nishgahama, that place is already the biggest shithole in Kanagawa. Unsalvageable, 75% of the complaints come from there. We need a tsunami to come and wipe away all the scum and rebuild. Sadly, I don't have the power to make that happen. We also reserve the right to change these rules as we see fit over the course of the dirty black summer.

 

 

Enoshima's Nishigahama Beach has been a cesspool of crime since the 70's.

It's too late to save Enoshima. Their property values are among the lowest on the coast thanks to the dirtbags from outside the area. There are rapes of men and women every year. Many fights daily and lots of petty crime. Last year one of the beach house managers was arrested for stealing wallets from his customers. The moron was caught at the end of the season because the threw all the empty wallets away in a clear plastic bag- right in front of his own shop. There were over 50 and many are still unclaimed. No one is safe there. A strong young firefighter from Tokyo was taken under a beach house, given drugs by a huge, foreign black man. He was then beaten and raped. The police don't even want to go there. If you leave your bag unattended on the beach for a minute some scumbag will go through it and steal your valuables. I can promise you that."

 

 

 Tattoo free kids from the outer suburbs are also troublemakers. Why focus on the tattoo enthusiasts?




  In the mid 1990's, Enoshima tried banning alcohol from its beaches, Shonan Beach coordinator, Naomasa Sakonju expressed his opposition to the proposal and issued a warning. "The heavy drinkers who amass during summer won’t go away." he said. "They’ll move inland, away from beach, and make it harder for our police to monitor crime.

“I'd like to ban all tattoos, the yanquis and foreigners from outside the area. Sadly,the group that wants to drink and party will go somewhere else in town,” Sakonju said at the time. “On the beach there are no windows to break or fires to start. It’s pretty easy to manage and contain.”

 

 

Last Sunday, some tattooed , drunken Americans servicemen actually asked Naomasa to, " Point us to the sluts!"



 
Three years later, crime statistics appear to support Sakonju's forecast. Alcohol-related crime fell in beach communities after the ban and climbed elsewhere in Shonan, according to an analysis of police statistics. Citywide, alcohol-related crime continued a rise that started years before the ban. The only solution was to ban tattoos. That should filter out a bad element from the toxic mix.

 

 

Free of tattoos, these gals can go anywhere they please.

It's working  well. Business is down 25% at all the affected shops. The tattooed beachgoers are feeling the discrimination on the public beaches for the first time in Japan's history. In mid July, 2 men were stabbed over a dispute that may have been related to the policy.  Last week, I personally witnessed a rich kid from the area attack and bloody the lip of a young man who was just minding his own business on the beach with his friends- all because he was recently tattooed.

 

 

Fully soundproofed for 2013, only the uninked can enter.

 

 

 

 

The tattoo enthusiasts of Japan are already denied access to most public baths, onsens and fitness clubs. Japanese culture is a shame society. This essentially reflects on the idea of honor as a societal control. Particular to Japan is the concept of the Bushido, referred to as the way of the samurai or warrior. At its extreme, it implies that it is the duty of the Japanese to die for the nation. Most Japanese over 30 think it serves them right.

 

This spoiled local attacks a group of men who's skin art offend him.
 

Anti tattoo propaganda also made the enthusiasts appear to be criminals and marijuana users, these laughable accusations became a commonly held perception of the rich taxpayers who live in the area. This legislation leads to the tenacity with which Japanese soldiers fought, often to the death, and actions such as kamikaze attacks and mass suicides. The stubborn and spoiled residents of the Shonan coast are close minded and out to get the working class, who need the beach and it's facilities to cool off in the sweltering Japanese summers. The rich residents rarely accept any type of compromise. They are entitled, selfish and particularly duty-bound by these notions, they would be more likely to commit suicide than surrender.

 

 

Punched in the mouth for the colors on his skin, his friend dressed like Gilligan attends to his wounds.

Sakaibara Shigematsu of Nishi Kawaguchi, was assaulted by a wealthy, young local man who attends the posh Keio University.

“I just got punched in the mouth by a drunk rich kid. Where are the cops when you need them? He just ran at me and my friends swinging.  He got me good, busted my lip wide open. This year is bullshit man. We used to be able to go in and spend 800 yen on a draft beer. This year, we gotta go the the conbini across the way and fill up our coolers with 150 yen canned drinks. We used to drop about 5,000 yen a day on food and drinks- EACH! Now, I maybe blow about 1500 on my beers and a soba. I bust my ass all week on the construction site, rebuilding Japan- for THEM!

(Actually, Hayama, Muira, Zushi and Yuigahama beaches are randomly stopping foreigners and tattooed Asians and searching their bags for alcoholic beverages. There are no reports from Enoshima yet, but that beach is so shady that it would be nearly impossible to enforce.)

These spoiled fucks down here don't want us down here ruining their view of the sea. Shit, we only come down in July and August. They have the beach year round- I live up in goddam Dasaitama, like 2 hours away. I don't have shit to do up there. They just wanna walk their dogs and be lame. I just wanna jam out to some tunes and look at the girls, man. It's fucked up and open discrimination. Fuck Shonan! I' may start going to Chiba.”

 

 

Sweet, sweet Erika.....




 My new best friend, the Sexy Erika Inoue (24) of Roppongi told me"

"This isn't just an ordinary back tattoo, you see..."

 While slightly turning around under her beach umbrella to show me proper,

"this tattoo is magic." she said with some of mysticism in her voice.


"If I hold it just right, it exposes the prejudice and ugliness of small minded people.  I often think of my tattoos as a type of social filter. Let's start with the claim that tattoo haters's agents provocateurs feel that the future of the entire beach rests in tattoo haters's hands. Sorry, guys, but the inconvenient truth is that if you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem."


The brainy Waseda University graduate student adds,

 " I think the Venn Diagram of people who wouldn't interact with someone because they have a tattoo and people I would like to talk to and perhaps know has no overlap. If someone is so close minded and shitty, as to rule out interacting with someone because they made a decision you would not, a decision whose consequences you absolutely do not have to face, I probably don't want to know them either." 

 

 

Take a good look at my good looks. I'll be eating falafel balls and drinking my Moët & Chandon champagne anywhere on the beach I choose.