is ear piercing permitted for babies?

i intend to pierce my 6months old daughter's earlobe. i want to know whether this is permitted in japan and if so, where i can get this done in nagasaki-shi japan. thanks

I don't believe there are any regulations per se regarding piercing for babies but I can tell you that you WILL run up against a lot of prejudice if you're thinking of piercing your baby's ears. Even for adults, piercing is often frowned upon as it goes against the commonly held belief that your body is a gift from your parents and should not be 'abused'. You might be perceived as having 'abused' your own child's body!

Your culture may accept piercing of babies' ears but in Japan it is almost unheard of and if you're planning on staying in the country, there's no way your child would be allowed to wear earrings at kindergartens or schools so my question would be, if she's never allowed to wear them, why bother getting them done?

Most times, ear piercing is done in a clinic or a hospital by medical staff and they might well baulk at doing it to a baby. You'll have to enquire at clinics locally but since you're here asking for advice, mine would be to think VERY CAREFULLY about this, especially if you plan on staying in Japan...

if you're planning on staying in the country, there's no way your child would be allowed to wear earrings at kindergartens or schools

This is not true. A lot of special styles are accepted at public kindergartens and elementary schools. Junior highs are a bit more strict, but a girl I knew had a note forwarded from her public school teacher to the senior high she wished to be accepted by, saying that she has her ears pierced due to ethnicity. She was granted enterance. And most if not all public senior highs in the city I live do not forbid ear-piercing. You also have the option to attend international schools.

I'm sorry I can't answer your question, but I hope you find a good specialist in your area.

Where I live it is common for parents to have their babies' ears pierced. At the same time there are also many parents who believe their babies should decide whether they will want it or not since it is their body. If you are planning on living in Japan for many years to come, your baby might end up complaining about it.

@ Uco

OK.. I'm sure there are senior schools where earrings are fine but there's a lot of schooling between 6 months & 16 years. I'm not sure where you live but I imagine that public schools in Nagasaki aren't going to be too forward thinking and liberal and I've never come across an elementary school that allowed earrings to be worn.

I guess the OP *could* play the ethnicity card and claim that's why her kid's ears are pierced but that's not going to help the child when all the other kids are laughing at her for having holes in her ears.

Still, obviously there are schools that would allow it but I just wonder why a parent would want to deliberately make their child different from all the others around them and just for purely cosmetic reasons.

Just my 2c worth...

My major concern about a baby having pierced ears is that he/she might snag an earring in a piece of clothing, sheets etc. and hurt himself/herself....or unhook it and swallow it..

Sorry for being intrusive, but why can't you let your child decide when she's old enough? Hurting your baby is not something local clinics would want to do. It is not permitted/not permitted question. Your baby's body is not yours.

For what it's worth to the conversation, I am an American of Italian descent and it is common in our culture for baby girls to have their ears pierced. My sister and I both did. We never had problems with the earrings getting snagged (young babies would probably just wear studs mostly, anyway) and since it's a pretty understated form of bodily mutilation (if you want to see it that way), it never bothered me to grow up always having pierced ears. Saved me the trouble of going through the pain of the piercing later. Of course, this is the USA and not Japan. I never had any social problems due to my pierced ears.

In Japan we simply don't have the custom of piercing your baby girl's earlobe... I know is it common in North America and some European countries... and (as far as I know) schools in Japan at least do not encourage wearing accessories.

So while there are no set regulations, I wonder if doctors would readily do that? Try going to a dermatologist (some do ear piercing, others not) or a cosmetic surgery clinic.

Pierced holes do close up after some years of non-use, particularly when you are young, so if it becomes an issue later in her life, simply not wearing earrings would be an option then.

(From a Japanese woman who had her ears pierced past age 40)