Japanese senior citizen beats up adult son after he finds out he got tattoos

Skips spanking, instead goes with punching after body art discovery.

Right now, Japan is in the middle of the Obon summer holiday season. Obon is said to be a time when the spirits of your ancestors come back to the world of the living to pay your family a short visit, and the custom is mirrored by the living, as the most common way to spend Obon is by going back to your hometown, staying at your parents’ house, and reconnecting with local relatives and friends.

However, there are two ways a family reunion can go: a reaffirmation of how much you love each other even when you’re far apart, or a stark reminder of why you really need to live in separate places. Things went the latter route for Shinichi Takematsu, a taxi driver living in the city of Fukuoka, when his son came home to visit for Obon on Monday night.

At some point during the evening, Takematsu noticed that his son now has tattoos on both of his arms. Whether the body art is a new addition or something that the son had simply concealed during his last visit, the elder Takematsu was angry to find out about it, and the two got into an argument. Eventually, the father came to feel that he needed something more impactful than words to make his points, and so began punching his son in the stomach and face.

In Japan, tattoos have long been associated with the yakuza, and while it’s unclear whether the son’s were a sign of criminal affiliation or simple fashion, they’re generally not the sort of thing that parents are happy to see on their children. But what’s especially odd about the incident is that Takematsu’s son isn’t some college freshman who just returned from his first semester away with a shocking new look. He’s a full-grown, 40-year-old man, and his father is 67, making them both far past the ages where even most old-school disciplinarians would say that corporal punishment or otherwise trying to “beat some sense into” your kids is an appropriate way of settling a dispute.

However, 67 isn’t too old to get arrested, and that’s just what happened after the son called the police on his talking-with-his-fists dad, as the cops also paid an Obon visit to the father’ home to take him into custody for assault. Oh, and if this has you thinking that Takematsu isn’t the best dad, we should add that his 40-year-old son was visiting with his wife and his own son, so he’s probably not going to win Grandfather of the Year either.

Sources: Yahoo! Japan News/Kyushu Asashi Hoso via Jin, Tele Asa News
Top image: Pakutaso
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