I have two tattoos. Nothing obtrusive, just a small bird and soccer mascot on my lower and upper right arm. With both coming about as a result of teenage rebellious tendencies, once my mother's tongue lashing had worn-off no further pain, inconvenience or usage was felt again -- until I landed in Japan.

Being a country boy from northern-England I, like most, had to adjust to the sheer numbers crammed inside morning trains in Tokyo.

Sporting shirts and suits I was one of the crowd -- a faceless sardine. But when I exposed my forearms, all that changed. Suddenly I had room to breathe. Old ladies sitting in front of or next to me moved and doors opened, as they say.

Not having Arnie's selection of biceps or triceps though, I have never showed off my upper tatt, otherwise a whole carriage on the 8 a.m. Yamanote line could well have been mine alone.

But, as the old adage goes; if you've got it, flaunt it. And when that fails, as the youngsters get used to having tattooed aliens in their midst, why not go all the way and lop off a pinky or two -- what do you really need them for anyway?-- Mark in Tokyo