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The story
Tattoo artist and YouTuber Shigechi (over 150,000 subscribers, 23 years in the trade) sparked a stir with a video titled “Everyone who gets a tattoo is an idiot,” posted on August 4. On September 2, he released a follow-up video laying out his reasoning in response to the backlash. On 5ch, opinions split between commenters who agreed with him and those who argued that getting a tattoo isn’t inherently a bad thing. One of his catchphrases, “looks like they showed up clutching just 5,000 yen” (roughly $35), got an especially big reaction, as did a poster who shared a personal story about raising kids while having tattoos.
September 4, 2026, 7:34 PM
Shigechi, a YouTuber who has worked as a tattoo artist for more than 20 years, updated his YouTube channel on September 2, 2026, laying out his reasoning in response to the criticism sparked by his claim — which went viral on social media — that “people with tattoos are idiots.”
Shigechi says he has more than 150,000 subscribers and 23 years of experience as a tattoo artist. He also has tattoos covering his entire body. The controversy stems from a video he posted on August 4, whose title makes the claim that “everyone who gets a tattoo is an idiot.”
Source: news.livedoor.com / Original article here
What people said
Okay, that's enough lol
Keep pushing your luck and you're gonna get hurt
and playing dumb is the funny part
It's basically a kind of intimidation tactic
There was a kid making a scene at my local supermarket, and both parents had tattoos
and they call you an idiot back
Is that an echo? (a nod to the famous Japanese poem "Kodama Deshou Ka")
"looks like they're clutching a 5,000-yen bill"
A few days later the principal asked me to please wear something that covers the tattoos.
Tattoos are self-expression, part of who I am — I have the right to get them and the right to show them.
So I flatly refused, and I still pick my kid up in a tank top every summer.
I proudly show off my tattoos with my kid at hot springs and pools too.
My wife backs me up on it too — she says that principal's just a rigid old Showa-era type, ignore her.
Honestly, Japan's just conservative and behind the times.
https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/matomehalo/imgs/8/5/85056eea.jpg
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Honestly that's basically business obstruction. Makes me want to avoid that kindergarten
So you're going around spreading the message yourself that people shouldn't associate with tattooed folks
Back in the day people in Japan got tattoos as good-luck charms too, so maybe it's that kind of thing
The idiotic part is that 99% of them think they're the 1%
That's because those guys think they're the majority
They can't accept being a 1% minority
Most people just stay quiet about it, so it's honestly appreciated that someone's willing to put his body on the line to prove the point
He's the type who's got a bunch of security cameras installed and calls the cops without hesitation, so this was probably expected lol
I think he actually said it's 90% idiots and 10% who are normal
Someone fill me in on the backstory
Apparently idiots show up to get tattooed with only 5,000 yen on them
It's always like "uh, I've got 5,000 yen, is that enough?"
Words of wisdom right there
Wasn't there a musician who said the same thing before this guy?
Something like "you wouldn't scribble graffiti on a Rolls-Royce, right?"
Most of them are just people with zero life planning
You just know their place is a mess
and that they blow their whole paycheck the second they get it
That's what you end up thinking
Though there are people who go full-body but still keep it cohesive
If it's like that, fine
It's the guys who slap tattoos on randomly like stickers
If you're bothered by being called an idiot, just mock his tattoo art right back
Was Zoro even in there? Isn't that Taa-chan (a manga character)?
Either way, I don't think you'd win a war of words against him given the gap in natural smarts lol
Sounds like getting famous has actually brought him more customers
"Which one of you called us idiots, huh?!"
Background and Key Points of This Debate
This kind of provocative “X are idiots” title from YouTubers is a classic outrage-marketing pattern designed to draw criticism and rack up views — and given that Shigechi himself is a tattoo artist covered in tattoos, it’s reasonable to read the video’s title as little more than an exaggerated hook to pull in viewers. What splits opinion in the thread is that two separate judgments — whether getting a tattoo is inherently wrong, versus whether tattooed people tend to be reckless or lack life planning — are getting blended together; even most people defending him take the qualified position that “tattoos themselves aren’t bad, but most people who get them are careless,” so this isn’t a clean for-or-against split. It’s also worth noting that lines like “90% idiots, 10% normal” are just Shigechi’s personal impression, not backed by any actual statistics — something readers could easily mistake for a real figure. And the phrase “looks like they showed up clutching 5,000 yen,” which got a big reaction in the thread, is an established bit he’s used in past videos, not a new line coined this time.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Tattoo artist who claimed “everyone with a tattoo is an idiot” fires back at critics: “Only an idiot gets mad at being called an idiot,” “You knew you were a minority when you got it”.”
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