The Japan Tourism Agency is asking Japanese spa operators to allow foreign tourists with tattoos into onsens, according to a report in The Japan Times.

Many Japanese bath houses do not allow people with tattoos due to a cultural stigma that associates them with criminal activity and gangs. The Tourism Agency points out that there is a large difference in cultural attitudes about tattoos in different countries, and that in order for tourism to grow, the rules should be relaxed.

The agency suggested measures such as offering stickers to cover tattoos or allocating certain times when tattooed visitors can bathe in the onsens.

In 2013, a 60-year-old Maori woman was denied entrance into a Japanese onsen because of her traditional facial tattoo, sparking controversy about the policy.