Tattoos have been linked to criminals for as long as 400 years, most recently to yakuza gang members, whose full-body ink-work stops short of hands and neck, allowing concealment under regular clothes. The popularity of Western rock music, though, with musicians increasingly sporting tattoos, has eaten away at this bias. A court decision last year that tattoos were for decoration, and were not medical procedures, helped clarify their murky legal status and may signal a shift in attitude - perhaps leading the industry to regulate itself, giving it a more mainstream image. Referring to them as tattoos rather than "irezumi" - literally meaning "inserting ink" - as is becoming more common, may also help give them a stylish, fashionable veneer. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon SEARCH "KYUNG-HOON TATTOOS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

A man walks past a branch of Mizuho Financial Group's Mizuho Bank in Tokyo November 5, 2013. Japan's Financial Services Agency began a probe on Tuesday into whether all three of the country's big banks Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, conducted transactions with Japanese gangsters, known as the yakuza. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS LOGO) 

People walk past Mizuho Financial Group's Mizuho Bank headquarters in Tokyo November 5, 2013. Japan's Financial Services Agency began a probe on Tuesday into whether all three of the country's big banks Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, conducted transactions with Japanese gangsters, known as the yakuza. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS LOGO) 

People walk past Mizuho Financial Group's Mizuho Bank headquarters in Tokyo November 5, 2013. Japan's Financial Services Agency began a probe on Tuesday into whether all three of the country's big banks Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, conducted transactions with Japanese gangsters, known as the yakuza. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS) 

A man walks past a sign of Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) at its headquarters in Tokyo November 5, 2013. Japan's FSA financial regulator began a probe on Tuesday into whether all three of the country's big banks Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, conducted transactions with Japanese gangsters, known as the yakuza. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS) 

A man stands under a sign of Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) at its headquarters in Tokyo November 5, 2013. Japan's financial regulator began a probe on Tuesday into whether all three of the country's big banks Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, conducted transactions with Japanese gangsters, known as the yakuza. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS) 

Singer Na Hoon-a speaks at a news conference in Seoul January 25, 2008. Na spoke on Friday to deny rumours he had been castrated by a Japanese gangster yakuza boss who was angry that the 60-year-old singer had a fling with one of his favourite South Korean actresses. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA) 

Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Tendo, 39, the author of "Yakuza Moon", a best-selling memoir just out in English, says that police efforts to eradicate the gansters have merely made them harder to track. To match feature: JAPAN-GANGSTERS. Picture taken on August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) 

Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Tendo, 39, the author of "Yakuza Moon", a best-selling memoir just out in English, says that police efforts to eradicate the gansters have merely made them harder to track. To match feature: JAPAN-GANGSTERS. Picture taken on August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) 

Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" poses after an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Tendo, 39, the author of "Yakuza Moon", a best-selling memoir just out in English, says that police efforts to eradicate the gansters have merely made them harder to track. To match feature: JAPAN-GANGSTERS. Picture taken on August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) 

Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" poses after an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Tendo, 39, the author of "Yakuza Moon", a best-selling memoir just out in English, says that police efforts to eradicate the gansters have merely made them harder to track. To match feature: JAPAN-GANGSTERS. Picture taken on August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) 

Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" poses after an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Tendo, 39, the author of "Yakuza Moon", a best-selling memoir just out in English, says that police efforts to eradicate the gansters have merely made them harder to track. To match feature: JAPAN-GANGSTERS. Picture taken on August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) 

Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" poses after an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Tendo, 39, the author of "Yakuza Moon", a best-selling memoir just out in English, says that police efforts to eradicate the gansters have merely made them harder to track. To match feature: JAPAN-GANGSTERS. Picture taken on August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) 

Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" poses after an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Tendo, 39, the author of "Yakuza Moon", a best-selling memoir just out in English, says that police efforts to eradicate the gansters have merely made them harder to track. To match feature: JAPAN-GANGSTERS. Picture taken on August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) 

Melanie, 28, a former Yakuza prostitute who was tricked into traveling to the Far East, shields her face as she talks during an interview in Risaralda province, October 28, 2003. Hundreds of Colombian women are enslaved every year by Japan's feared Yakuza crime gangs and forced to pay off travel debts by prostituting themselves for months or longer. PICTURE TAKEN ON OCTOBER 28, 2003. REUTERS/John Jairo Bonilla - FOR FEATURE BC-COLOMBIA PROSTITUTION DM/SV 

A Colombian woman boards a plane traveling to the Far East in Risaralda province, October 27, 2003. Hundreds of Colombian women are enslaved every year by Japan's feared Yakuza crime gangs and forced to pay off travel debts by prostituting themselves for months or longer. Colombia, ravaged by war and deep poverty, has proved fertile ground for human trafficking. PICTURE TAKEN ON OCTOBER 27, 2003. REUTERS/John Jairo Bonilla - FOR FEATURE BC-COLOMBIA PROSTITUTION DM 

Miguel Angel, 40, former human trafficking expert in sending Colombian women to the Far East, shields his face as talks with Reuters in Risaralda province, October 27, 2003. Once abroad, the women were enslaved by Japan's feared Yakuza crime gangs and forced to pay off travel debts by prostituting themselves for months or years. Colombia, ravaged by war and deep poverty, has proved fertile ground for human trafficking and the Colombian consulate in Tokyo estimates 400 Colombian women were taken to Japan Last year alone to work in the sex trade. PICTURE TAKEN ON OCTOBER 27. REUTERS/John Jairo Bonilla - FOR FEATURE BC-COLOMBIA PROSTITUTION DM 

A Colombian woman presents her passport at a Colombian airport before boarding a plane traveling to the Far East in Risaralda province in this photo taken October 24, 2003. Hundreds of Colombian women are enslaved every year by Japan's feared Yakuza crime gangs and forced to pay off travel debts by prostituting themselves for months or longer. Colombia, ravaged by war and deep poverty, has proved fertile ground for human trafficking. REUTERS/John Jairo Bonilla FOR FEATURE BC-COLOMBIA PROSTITUTION DM 

Two Colombian women board a plane traveling to the Far East in Risaralda province in this photo taken October 22, 2003. Hundreds of Colombian women are enslaved every year by Japan's feared Yakuza crime gangs and forced to pay off travel debts by prostituting themselves for months or longer. Colombia, ravaged by war and deep poverty, has proved fertile ground for human trafficking. REUTERS/John Jairo Bonilla FOR FEATURE BC-COLOMBIA PROSTITUTION DM 

South Korean Kwon Hee-ro, known in Japan as Kim Hui-ro, 71, waves after arriving in Pusan September 7. Kwon, the recently released longest-serving prisoner in Japan, carries the remains of his deceased mother in a box on his chest. Kwon was released on Tuesday from a prison in Tokyo after serving a sentence for killing two Yakuzas 31 years ago in Japan to protest against Japanese racial discrimination.

YUN/PB 

South Korean police commandos are on alert against possible Japanese Yakuzas attacks on Kim Hee-ro who is arriving at Pusan airport September 7. Kim Hee-ro, the longest serving prisoner in Japan, who 31 years ago killed two Yakuzas to protest against Japanese racial discrimination, was released on Tuesday from a prison in Tokyo.

YUN/TAN 

Luzviminda Bayo, 30, carries her 10-month-old child as she boils a revolver in a chemical mixture as part of the illegal gun-making industry in the central Philippine city of Danao April 7. Thousands of families in Danao are involved in the industry, which churns out 4,000 firearms a month, some of which end up in the hands of Japan's Yakuza crime syndicates 

A Filipino man checks his self-made submachinegun as part of the illegal gun-making industry in the central Philippine city of Danao April 7. Thousands of families in Danao are involved in the industry, which churns out 4,000 firearms a month, some of which end up in the hands of Japan's Yakuza crime syndicates