Inheriting the Lost Okinawan Culture of Hajichi (Hari-Tsuki)

Abstract

The women's hands were covered with "irezumi" or tatoo, which was "the symbol of women's longing. One day, such a normal day turned around 180° and turned evil. Those who had it in their hands were arrested by the police, and they began to feel ashamed of having it in their hands. In 1899, a ban was issued and the "hajichi", a name for irezumi in Okinawa, disappeared from the hands of Okinawan women. This paper considers the need for a digital archive of this lost culture of Okinawa.