How does Taiwanese feel about tattoos?

[Taiwan Luthiers]

I've heard that in Japan it is a cultural taboo to have tattoos because only Yakuza members have tattoos, especially full body tattoos. They said that many bathhouses would deny you admission if they found that you have tattoos.

Does the Taiwanese feel the same way about tattoos?

[PigBloodCake]

I've heard that in Japan it is a cultural taboo to have tattoos because only Yakuza members have tattoos, especially full body tattoos. They said that many bathhouses would deny you admission if they found that you have tattoos.

Does the Taiwanese feel the same way about tattoos?

Yes.

[cfimages]

Tattoos are very fashionable in Taiwan right now. Every other person seems to have one these days.

[Taiwan Luthiers]

Tattoos are very fashionable in Taiwan right now. Every other person seems to have one these days.

I am looking for a good artist with decent hygienic standards... care to recommend one?

Any idea how much should I save up if I want to do a detailed black/white tattoo on my arm?

[cfimages]

My wife has one from a place called Needle No. 8 which is near Zhongxiao Dunhua, in one of the alleys behind the gym. I don't know the exact contact details or prices though.

[Confuzius]

Tattoos are in style now. I see people with them (20's and 30's) with them all the time.

Its a taboo for the OLDER generation who associate them with organized crime, like the older generation in Japan.

[GuyInTaiwan]

It used to be so in the West also. Even when I was growing up, tattoos were associated with criminals, bikies and sailors. I know I will come off as very much against the grain of Western culture here, but I still find them ugly and distasteful, and the move to acceptance of them is part of the greater cultural malaise in the West regarding the glorification of low/street/gangster culture. Yet I also recognise similar themes that I have accepted and adopted.

I think it also speaks volumes about Taiwanese culture that of all the cultural hurdles people could overcome, and of all the things they could "accept" from the West, it would be this rather than the many positive things they could have adopted.

[Taiwan Luthiers]

In any other cultures I have come across when accepting the Western culture, they always accept the greed and ambition of the West, but never their virtues.

[sandman]

Tatoos here these days are like in the West. Get 'em at the mall, along with your new Nikes. They're run-of-the-mill. Standard kid-apparel. There's one on Roosevelt Rd, just past the Roosevelt/Keelung (Jilong) intersection, on your right going out of town, next to a heavy bike store and a rollerblade store. You should get one, so you can look like everyone else.

[GuyInTaiwan]

I thought people got them to look unique.