>>1000832Since only wealthy families have access to private bathing facilities, most people use public bath houses for day-to-day hygiene.
Tattoos are closely associated with poverty and mental illness both factually and pan-culturally.
The result, at least in Japanese culture, is a self-reinforcing loop. Tattoo'd people aren't allowed to bath, so they're gross. People that don't bath are gross, and tend to have tattoos.
