Sunday, September 14, 2008

brave or stupid?

Conor loves water parks, and last year for his birthday we took him and his brother and two cousins to the Great Wolf Lodge in Pennsylvania. It was perfect.

The Tokyo equivalent is a place called Summerland, and its outdoor pools-with-slides area is still open (as well it should be - it's still so freaking hot), so that's where we will be going to celebrate the Big 8.

I refuse to let this TV commercial for the place scare me off...though perhaps it should...

I can tell you one thing: we will not be going into the wave pool!

Luckily we won't have to worry about the no-tattoo rule, as we Buechners are all tatt-free. Most onsens and fitness clubs also ban them. (Sorry Mom!) The reason? Members of the yakuza (Japanese mafia) all have tattoos, so banning them is a surefire way of keeping criminals out of your establishment. Even though the typical "yak" has a lot more ink than the average person -- usually all across the back -- you can get kicked out just for having a little daisy or kanji character or peace sign on your ankle, so the advice on many of the online message boards I've read is to cover up with tape or a Band-Aid.

3 comments:

WriterChickNj said...

What happened when your Mom (and her cute little tattoo) came to visit??

Patrick said...

Uki Uki indeed!

Maryanne said...

To answer your question KQ: My Mom did not attempt to enter an onsen while she was here last April, so her ink was not an issue...Oh and btw, it was while visiting me in Fort Pierce Florida that she got that butterfly on her back, some 14 years ago!! For the record, it was all her idea.