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'Don't want to act anything bigger than we are' - Aaron Smith on respecting Japan's tattoo rules

September 17, 2019

The halfback was asked about how the tattooed players in the squad are adapting to Japanese culture regarding ink.

Inked All Black Aaron Smith says his team will show respect for the conservative rules around tattoos in Japan.

Showing off your tattoos in certain places like pools, bath houses, gyms and many ryokans could see you banned from those establishments.

Smith says the team's manager will brief the All Blacks regularly about protocol around tattoos.

“That’s OK, we’re in Japan, we gotta embrace their way their culture and us people with tattoos we're happy to cover up.

“Every hotel we go to we get a little message around that.

“We just gotta respect that and adapt. As All Blacks we are grateful to be here, we don’t want to act like anything bigger than we are.”

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