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I don't have an insightful answer to your question but I hate tats myself. A lot of my friends, even if roughly my age, have them, and the tattooing stories all sound inane to me.
The popular belief about Japan is that tattoos are a signal of organized criminal membership (Yakuza) and this has been my own experience. The view that Japanese therefore find tattoos "scary," however, I'd take issue with. Japanese are very aware generally that tattoo cultural norms are different outside Japan, and seeing a tattooed foreigner isn't particularly traumatizing, but probably does seem like a class signal. In other words because the yaks generally attract the socially disaffected (e g. burakumin or Zainichi Korean, etc.) and then gang members have the irezumi (traditionally tattooed with bamboo needles) sleeves and back-tats etc., to be seen tattooed is to be unconsciously associated with the dregs of society. Like seeing someone with a gold incisor, even if you know they're not in some gang or whatever.
For this reason many places where all or part of the full body is on view such as pools, hot spring resorts, or sento (public baths) have signs everywhere that tattooed patrons are forbidden. (Although I've seen at least one Japanese man at a hot spring with a tattoo on his shoulder, and to my awareness nothing was ever said to him and he certainly was not kicked out. Then again he was a big dude and onsen staff are generally dainty women or old spent dudes. If tattoo guy had the stones to wade into the hot spring without fear of social rebuke, he pretty much was home free.)
There are also sento baths that do not forbid tattoos and these are usually straightforward, no-nonsense public baths in dingier areas.
I was raised to see tattoos as trashy. My dad was in the Navy and apparently this view lodged in his mind. He also liked Catholics, though wasn't one himself, because he said the Catholic guys were the one group that didn't immediately visit brothels at port. (I cannot verify the accuracy of this.)
Back on topic: Lots of young Japanese women now seem much more interested in tattoos than their parents, but only seemingly those already immature in their social development or mildly out-of-step anyway (e.g. they are also interested in foreigners.) For guys if you're a musician or otherwise resolved to stay on the fringe (artist, bar owner, etc.) you can get away with tats, probably.
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