Well, Wayne doesn't acually have a third nipple, but I think that may be the rumor that will be going around town soon.
Wayne joined my gym the other day. He's wanted to join it for a while, but was "forbidden" to do so because he has a tattoo. It's a rather large tattoo, taking up most of his rather large chest. Tattoos are frowned upon in Japan because of their connection to yakuza. Even though it's quite doubtful that a foreigner would be yakuza, ink-work can still make many Japanese feel uncomfortable. For this reason, Wayne can't enter many of the wonderful Japanese hotsprings.
So for a while now, he's been attending the city gym, but the weights there are very light and he doesn't get the workout that he wants. We went to the gym last weekend to ask for special permission for him to join. I (my Japanese is much better than Wayne's so it is almost always me that asks things in Japanese) asked very nicely that if no-one ever gets to actually see his tattoo, could he join.
They hummed, and hahhed then reiterated that no-one could ever see it, then it would be ok. And I mean ever! We also had to agree that no-one would see it outside of the gym either! They justified that if he was in another public place and his tattoo was visible, another gym member might see it and get scared.
At the gym he can't use the pool or the public bath. He also has to be careful when going to the shower. So in a country where people are quite comfortable with public nudity (in certain sex segregated envirnoments that is), Wayne has to walk to the shower fully covered up with a t-shirt on top. He takes his clean t-shirt to change into in the shower cubicle which he makes more private by hanging his towel over a rail so that nothing can be seen above the door either. I'm sure people are going to start wondering and then talking about why this large, strange foreigner is so shy about his chest. "Hey, maybe he has a third nipple", is my guess to what they might think.
It's a pity in a way, because to be honest, I think it's a chest worth showing off.
Over the last week, I've discovered that there are pros and cons to having my personal trainer husband at the gym with me. The main advantage is that I work harder. The main disadvantage is that I work harder. Boy am I sore today!
What else can he do?
ReplyDeleteIn Japan the only people who get tattooed are either Criminals or the Dangerously Stupid. These people should be kept out.
Regardless of how it is in the West, this is Japan and the way these people are. For better or worse, it's home now and we have to live with this crap.
I'll copy this post and put it up on the fridge for my (4) teenagers to see.
ReplyDeleteYay Japan!
Thanks for visiting my Creative Blogs. You chicken......post a photo of your mess, come on! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the third nipple story. I had no idea about the tattoo fears in Japan. Interesting.