One of my friends got a Tattoo in Osaka earlier this week. He might be banned from Onse n or sento (public baths) because having a tattoo here (for guys) it is an indication that you are part of Yakuza and some public bath / hot spring owners feel that Yakuza might scare customers away so there are sometimes "no tatoos" signs in the entrance of such places.
Here is an interesting link on the origin of Yakuza (Japanese mob) and on their tattoos.
http://www.dreadloki.com/pivot/pivot/entry.php?uid=standard-718&action=show
Yakuza in Japan have an interesting role in society... as they were seen as trouble-makers in the past, now they have seem to gain a respectable role in society. They are still a marginalized bunch, but they have been accepted by society and even the government. Some Yakuza operations have to do with gambling and also selling fakes on the street. For some reason, everytime I have seen this type of display with jewellery being sold, it has been gaijin that are selling at the table. This type of selling would usually be illegal and the police sometimes intervene but the Yakuza always comes to an agreement with the authorities. There are also festivals where people have to transport extremely heavy shrines and it becomes a competition between Yakuza clans. Authorities let that happen because they rather pacific competitions than violent fights. The mobsters that participate in those competitions are usually younger because they don't have tattoos yet and they don't look like they are part of Yakuza.
The pictures above is the tattoo my friend has now and the other is the type of sign you can spot at onsen that say people with tattoo are not allowed in.
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