Tokyo — When Mana Izumi got her first tattoo at 18, she wasn't trying to rebel or shatter any taboos -- just copy Japanese pop diva Namie Amuro's beach-bronze "surfer chick" look.

In Japan, where tattoos have for centuries been demonized for their association with criminals, former porn star Izumi turns heads with her copper tan, bleach-blonde bob, and an array of designs inked across half of her body.

Tattoos still provoke deep-rooted suspicion in Japan as the country prepares to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

People with body ink are refused entry to public swimming pools, bathing spots, beaches and often gyms, while visible body art can be harmful to job prospects.

Japan has long had a prickly relationship with tattoos.

In the 17th century criminals were branded as a form of punishment, while today Japan's yakuza mobsters pledge their loyalty with traditional, full-body "irezumi" tattoos.

As Japan opened up to the outside world in the 1800s, tattoos were outlawed -- along with snake-charming and public nudity -- because the Japanese feared outsiders would think they were "primitive," according to Brian Ashcraft, author of "Japanese Tattoos: History, Culture, Design".

At the same time, European royalty would come to Japan to secretly get inked, so coveted were the country's tattoo artists.

The ban lasted until 1948 when the occupying American forces lifted it but the stigma remains in Japan. — AFP