Revival!
Modern Hajichi from hajicha in Okinawa - Instagram: @hajichi_project
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Even though hajichi practice faded due to the Japanese stigmatization of tattoos and colonization of Okinawa, today there is a revival of hajicha artists around the world with women practicing the tattooing tradition in Okinawa, California, Hawai’i, Brazil, and more. Now, hajichi can connect us to Uchinanchu identity and ancestors.
And though hajichi as always been a tradition of many facets and perspectives, there are even more new views on modern hajichi. Some time after Japanese annexation, some Uchinanchu women with hajichi came to look down on the practice with regret as something “stupid” (or furaa in uchinaaguchi), especially with the intensity of the discrimination and persecution sometimes experienced by women with hajichi (story from Moeko Heshiki). And though it has some history of being a practice that was pressured or even forced upon young women and later discriminated against as "uncivilized", a younger generation of hajicha feel empowered by the practice and believe hajichi can be a reconnection to an oppressed cultural artform and celebration of cultural heritage. Hajichi has been an empowering, connecting, and joyful experience for many women, however, another part of hajichi’s past can be seen as disempowering and even traumatizing, such as women being shamed or forced into getting it. Today, perhaps people who identify with the experience of “womanhood” can choose to give hajichi new, more empowering meanings, while being aware and knowledgeable about hajichi’s past/stories. What might hajichi mean to you? |
Site put together by Emily Takara, see Resources Page