Hajichi: The Banned Traditional Tattoos of Okinawa

[@mbarroga1]

Growing up on Okinawa, I recall seeing our landlord's grandmother with Hajichi tattoos on her hands. My mother who is from Amami, explained what they were at the time when I was a young child. Thank you for sharing!

[@Danielle-gc6il]

I am Amamian too, my family is from Tokunoshima. The last women in my family to get hajichi were my great great great grandmas. I am getting mine from an Okinawan-American tattoo artist at the end of the month!! I’m so excited to bring part of our culture back.

[@tudormiller887]

If foreigners get these types of tattoos, do Okinawan people consider it cultural appropriation ? 🇯🇵

[@crowolf3862]

If anyone’s curious, the song starting around 0:45 is asadoya yunta. It’s one of the big traditional standards that’s popular at us bon dance where there’s a lot of okinawan lineage.

[@sandovalperry2895]

My great grandmother was born in the 1870’s and I remembered her tattoos. As a child I thought it was the greatest thing, she was just like a pirate. My mother, who lived under the Japanese pre-war years, said that only criminals wore tattoos. I’m glad to see this bit of lost history.

[@Anakaraya]

to see the practice of traditional tattoos being revived worldwide fills me with such joy. Indigenous peoples across the globe are reclaiming the parts of their culture that were suppressed for centuries, and its such a beautiful thing. The tattoos are beautiful, they are important, and they tie ones body to ones culture and spirituality. I hope that the people of Okinawa continue to work on reviving the practice and respect for their traditional tattoos. It would be very cool to one day see a comparison between the different styles of traditional tattoos across the world, because one can see many symbols that seem to be universal (which makes sense, theres only so many geometric shapes!).

[@NancyNishihira]

Great video! I would say that some of the information has already become outdated as many of us in the diaspora have reclaimed our hajichi (permanently - not temporary tattoos) and even are becoming hajichaa. The largest modern gathering of women with hajichi just happened recently in Hawaii

[@UnseenJapan]

That's great to hear - it's wonderful to see more and more people reclaiming this aspect of their heritage.

[@pillbobaggins2766]

there are parallels with Maori culture and the revival of moko, it makes me happy as an outsider to see the younger generation pick up these important things from their cultures and stop them disappearing. i think it's absolutely wonderful that the revival of te reo Maori has inspired Indigenous peoples around the world such as the Ainu with preserving and reviving their own languages

[@pillbobaggins2766]

the tattoos are absolutely incredible, so intricate, it would be a great sorrow for this tradition to disappear completely

[@desertedislander]

This is so cool. I'm living in Miyakojima now and have visited 17 islands in Okinawa prefecture so far. Much talked about here is the distinction between Japan and Okinawa. Many people say they are Okinawan 1st, and Japanese 2nd.

[@kkcasazza]

My family is from and still lives in miyakojima! Maekawa and makabe family

[@noahoskow4551]

Haisai, everyone! Glad to finally be able to get this one out. It was great to get to focus on Okinawa and the history of Ryukyu again - I hope this video proves interesting. Personally, I find it a pretty moving topic, and I'm glad to see that hajichi are slowly becoming more well known in Okinawa and beyond. Let me know what you think!

[@UnseenJapan]

English subtitles are up for whoever prefers to use them!

[@Foxycow43]

I just discovered hajichi a month ago! As someone who is half okinawanan I'm so happy to see this! I'd love to have them soon

[@noahoskow4551]

@@Foxycow43 That's great! Would be very cool to see more Okinawans/Ryukyuans reviving the hajichi tradition.

[@squeento]

My great-grandmother was tattooed and had bound feet. She passed when I was a little boy, over a 100 years old. We still haven't been to Okinawa 😢. Hopefully one day 🙏🤙🤙🤙

[@johnkelly9451]

I hope you can save your pennies and see Okinawa someday. You will connect deeper with your heritage. The island is beautiful. There is much history, culture to learn. It is a complex story. The people are incredible.-John's wife (Teruya and Oshiro)

[@Lyagani]

Foot binding wasn’t a thing in Japan. You literally made all this up.

[@thomasgargano8813]

First of all… thank you for this video. I remember my grandmother ( O Ba or OBa-son ) had these tattoos on her hands, I was told that the woman tattoo their hands to make them unattractive for the western pirates wouldn’t kidnapped them. Iam glad to see the old tradition coming back to the Okinawan way. I hope the people in Okinawa never forget. Very good video,thank you so much.👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🍻🍻🍻🍺☮️☮️☮️

[@johnkelly9451]

I was told the same. -John's wife (Teruya and Oshiro)

[@triangleman100]

As a sansei Ryukyuan in America- I thank you for this video. You did an EXCELLENT job! Also- as a student of Uta-Sanshin (traditional/classical musician), I would LOVE you to do an episode on traditional Ryukyuan Music! I have *never* seen /experienced a music culture like this. I believe it to be one of the truly unique treasures of the Earth/Human experience.

[@yvettethompson9329]

As a 100% half Okinawan from Hawaii I appreciated your video. Thank you! This brought back many fond memories of my grandparents and the rich okinawan culture that they instilled in us. Family, music, food & enjoying life. I also appreciated that last song on your video with the Hawaiian lyrics.

[@midnightblue1903]

Proud to be half Okinawan ❤

[@andrewdegozaru74]

What a celebration of the rich connected tapestry of culture across Oceania and NE Asia. it's really encouraging to hear and see a proud re-embracing of many centuries old traditions by younger generations in stark contrast to the rejection and shame commonly associated with them when I first became acquainted with, and ultimately married to a Japanese national. Great job with helping to increase awareness of lesser known aspects of Japan Noah and team.

[@mra098310]

What is the series that is in this video called?? I remember watching her on TV with my mom as a teen and she played a historical Japanese figure as well. It’s nice to see a something from Ryukyu on media. I’m also part Okinawan and I’m still trying to convince my Okinawan mom that Hajichi are not disgusting. Her step-grandma had that and she always thought she had bruises on her hands but learned it was actually hajichi

[@tkyxx]

Thank you so much for this video! I´m brazilian and Okinawa descent. Throughout my life I have never identified with Japanese culture, and for a long time I have been trying to learn more about my Okinawan family roots. Your content was very useful!

[@erik7647]

Good luck in your learning and journey connecting to your ancestors 🖤🖤🖤

[@okiboogie]

I lived in Okinawa for 26 years. Love the island, the people and the culture. I'm in Naichi now but will make my way back down there again. ❤

[@Becks23medusa]

I recently found your channel. Is fascinating how much history we can find in hands of our elderly. Thank you so much for this video. Tattoos ancestry tells so much about the culture of each individual. My first contact was the Ainu -Hokkaido, now I know about Okinawa. Thank you🙏

[@uchinan_chiburu]

just found your channel and subbed. love this content. i'm 100% half okinawan. 😀

[@MizuhoHanashiro]

Thank you for sharing this! I’ve been looking for more resources to learn about hajichi. Perfect timing😊

[@YokaiLover699]

This was a fantastic video! I can't wait to see what you'll cover next!

[@ciello___8307]

beautiful piece noah. Made me proud and also sad at the plight of my fellow okinawans

[@choberi]

thank you for making this video!

[@The.Doom.Merchant]

a) Interesting topic! Love to see indigenous peoples reclaiming their erased [edit: which is to say, suppressed] history. b) lol @ all the Way of the Samurai OST music. i know those songs like the back of my hand, wild to see them in the wild, as it were

[@noahoskow4551]

Glad to hear people actually recognize the WoT soundtracks! They just seem to fit with so many of these stories. Same for some of Asakura's others OSTs (Tenchu chief among them).

[@derbyyank13]

This was such a great video. Really enjoyed it.

[@UnseenJapan]

Thanks, happy you appreciated it!

[@derbyyank13]

@@UnseenJapan Absolutely. Always to learn more about Ryukyu and its people

[@DraNchan]

Thank you for your work, essays like that are priceless!

[@harem_lord-FFM]

These tattoos are very similar to what the Visayans of the Philippines had.

[@UnseenJapan]

Which is quite interesting. There's also similar indigenous tattooing traditions in Taiwan, and further afield in areas of Micronesia.

[@harem_lord-FFM]

@@UnseenJapan must be an island culture thing

[@y38]

Fascinating topic.

[@asakurad]

Wonderfully done!

[@korobizaka]

awesome video as usual!

[@jasonalessi2794]

Shoutout way of the samurai 2 ost

[@UnseenJapan]

You know it!

[@ウサギゾッド]

What's the song you use in this video at the end? It was incredibly moving. Great vid as always!

[@noahoskow4551]

Nada Soso by Natsukawa Rimi! I kept on reflecting on how emoitional the song was, and thought it would fit here - especially alongside the Hawaiian verses in this version.

[@kaindrg]

What is the close out song?

[@UnseenJapan]

It's Nada Soso, performed by Natsukawa Rimi and former sumo wrestler Konishiki (born Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e).

[@たま-u8r]

Hajichi tattoos is symbol of Ryukyu kingdom high-ranking married womans. And, her wear Kasuri called black color kimono. When Meiji period, from Ryukyu kingdom to Okinawaken prefeture part of Japan. Hajichi lost as a bad habit.