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There's good news for tattooed bathers at the Rugby World Cup

By Ian Cameron
Tattoos are traditionally not welcomed at Japanese 'onsens'

Japanese bathing houses or ‘onsens’ look set to relax their here-to-fore strict rules regarding tattoos at the upcoming Rugby World Cup in Japan.

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In Japan, tattoos have long been linked to the ‘yakuza’ organised crime syndicates, and as such tattooed bathers have traditionally been shunned at Japanese ‘onsens’.

However, rules appear to be about to relaxed as hundreds of thousands of potentially tattooed rugby fans flock to the island nation – many eager to bathe in the country’s famous thermal waters.

Onsens owners in Sapporo – where England will play Tonga in the pool stages – will be allowed to decide their own policy for the period, while discussions are ongoing in Atami over potentially relaxing the rules, temporarily at least.

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The city of Beppu in Oita appears to be the most open to tattooed fans, stating: “even though Beppu is a small town, there are many onsens of all different types that do allow tattoos. There are approximately 100 onsens that tattooed guests may enter, so no one has to give up on entering an onsen in Japan.”

With the increasing popularity of tattoos in Western culture, it’s not just fans that could be affected by onsen protocols. Leaving aside Pacific Island players who have been wearing tattoos for centuries as part of longstanding cultural traditions, many star players in Tier 1 sides now boast ‘ink’.

Among others – the Springboks’ Francois Hougaard, England’s Jack Nowell, Joe Marler and Courtney Lawes and Ireland’s Andrew Porter all have extensive tattooing.

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Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan is the ninth edition of rugby’s showcase global event and the first in Asia. The world’s top 20 national teams will play in 48 matches hosted across 12 match cities.

The Rugby World Cup is the sport’s financial engine, generating approximately 90 percent of World Rugby’s revenues for reinvestment in the global game over the four-year cycle. The record-breaking success of England 2015 is enabling World Rugby to invest GBP £482 million at all levels of the game between 2016 and 2019, eclipsing the previous four-year cycle by 38 percent, to ensure strong and sustainable growth.

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Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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