Happy AAPI Heritage Month!
Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! I celebrated this year by taking part in an ancient tradition of my people, becoming the first woman in my family in more than a century to receive traditional Okinawan hajichi tattoos on my hands.
My great-grandmother was the last, and she got them covertly: Japan made the centuries-old practice illegal in 1899, around the time she was born. She, her mother, and the village hajicha (tattoo artist) risked punishment from the Japanese empire for holding the ceremony, but they did it anyway. That's how important these tattoos are to us.
Today, young Okinawan women around the world are reviving the practice, asserting our culture into the present and honoring our ancestors. That includes my hajicha, Erin, who made time to tattoo my niece Emma's hands after she finished mine.
My tattoos are tiny, which reflects the region where I am from and my family’s socio-economic status as the direct descendants of King Sho Hashi, the first king of the Ryukyuan Kingdom. His reign ended in 1439.
The night I got my tattoos, I dined with 28 Okinawans from Okinawa, Brazil, and Hawaii who gathered to celebrate the return of the practice. Our humble dinner was the largest gathering of hajichi-tattooed women in at least 80 years.
Learn more about hajichi from the Washington Post.