Background: After reading this post I was taken aback by the people who never lived here saying that a foreigner getting Hajichi tattoos would be offensive to Okinawans. I've lived here for about 15 years, and Okinawans have been extremely open to sharing every aspect of their culture; from having a traditional Okinawan wedding and attending festivals to more serious things like funerals and religious ceremonies, the reaction to a foreigner participating in good faith has always been positive. I was certain that actual Okinawans would not react the way the people in the comments were, so I set out to ask them myself.
Disclaimer: This is not a scientific study. I'm not trying to submit this into a peer reviewed journal. The sample size is small and there are several inherent biases just based on me doing the asking, but the answers were common enough that I think it's a fair representation of the overall feelings. About half of the people were total strangers, while the other half I knew in some type of way; in-laws, friends, and community members. Again, I know this skews the results, but this was just a fun weekend thing to do.
The unsurprising results: The vast majority were perfectly happy to share their culture. There were some nuances that I'll get into below, but only one person said it should be for Okinawans only.
First, the 5 "No" answers:
50s Male: This guy just hated tattoos. He was adamant that no one should get them, in any circumstances. Doesn't matter if it's a foreigner or an Okinawan "they are gross and no one should have them."
60s Male: I knew this guy was going to say no before I even said hello to him. From the minute he saw me he had a look of absolute hatred and disgust. His response was a simple "Okinawans only." I just said "thank you" and walked away, but I got the distinct feeling if I asked him whether foreigners should be allowed in Japanese bars his answer would have been the same.
Two Men in their 50s: This was two friends that I asked at the same time. The first one originally said "yeah, no problem" but the second one was VERY adamant that it should be only those who deeply studied the spiritual teachings of the ancestors that should get them (he said "Shaman" in English). He was very insistent that only "shamans" should wear them. He said it would be fine for a foreigner to get them if they came here and studied the spiritual teachings for a long time, but even an Okinawan shouldn't get them if they aren't a "shaman" themselves. These guys actually argued amongst themselves for several minutes before the first one finally agreed to say “only shamans”, likely just to move on or stop the other one from having an aneurism.
50s Male: This guy didn't technically answer the question, but if you are familiar with Japanese culture at all then when 3 other people in the group say "yeah it's fine" and one person goes "ehhhh….." then that's a clear "no." I'm not sure if he was worried about offending me, or if he just didn't want to start a debate in the group, and out of respect for him I didn't ask any further, I just said nodded and thanked the table and put his answer in the "no" column.
The rest of the answers:
Enthusiastic yes: 29 of the 44 people said unequivocally that they'd be okay with it. When I asked follow up questions many of them agreed that there are some minor caveats that I'll list below, but were completely unphased by whether the person was Okinawan or foreigner.
Hesitant yes: 9 people made some reference to it being a little weird or strange, but that they ultimately wouldn't mind. When I asked some of the specific caveats I had heard from other people they all agreed that if those terms were met then they would be okay with it.
The common caveats:
Knowing the background: After getting their answer, I asked “what if people have no idea about the meaning, and just got it as a fashion tattoo?”Almost everyone agreed that they wouldn't be happy with someone who didn't know anything about it at all, and only got them because they looked cool. The exact amount of expectation varied a bit, but was generally just knowing that it originated in Okinawa that was most important. Many of the enthusiastic yes answers were because they loved the idea of more people learning about Okinawan culture, so at a bare minimum reading the wikipedia page and learning about the origins would be nice.
Be a woman: This should be obvious after the above point, but everyone laughed and said "no no no" when I (jokingly) said "what about a guy getting them?" (I'm aware that there are traditional male tattoos, but it's a totally different design pattern from what we were talking about).
Be married: This one was actually split between the generations. The older crowd was adamant about a woman needing to be married to get them, while the younger generation was split between about half saying "it doesn't matter if you're married or not" and the other half saying "it would be a little strange if you weren't married," but weren't super strict about it being a hard requirement.
An unexpected trend from the younger people: I expected the younger generation to either not be super familiar with them, or to not really care, but it turns out that the Hajichi Project or something similar is really catching on in their social media. People in their 40s and 50s said things like "ohhh yeah I know what those tattoos are…. they've been out of style for a while now, I don't think people would know the meaning anymore," but although some people in the 20s didn't recognize the name immediately, when I said "the hand tattoos" they perked up and were like "oh yeah! those are so cool, I would be happy to see foreigners with them!"
Not just "acceptable" but "thankful": One thing came up several times across all of the generations. People very often said they would be "thankful" or "grateful" to see foreigners with Hajichi, as it would help spread the history and knowledge of the Ryukyu people.
A warning from me, personally: Although Okinawans might be very accepting of sharing their culture, remember that people in your home country might not think the same way. If you decide to get those tattoos you might face adversity from people who never stepped foot here getting offended on other's behalf. Decide if that's something you really want to deal with before going through with it.
by T_Money
18 comments
wow this is very interesting! Thank you for posting this 🙂
Thank you for asking around! My child is part of the Ryukyu diaspora (father born in Okinawa, migrated to Australia, child born here but we want them to be connected to their ancestry) and I wanted to guide her appropriately if she wanted to go down this path for herself. Without being local, or getting to visit often, little surveys like this are so helpful!
Thank you for the effort and thought you put into this, and for sharing with us.
That’s because this is reddit, it has a disproportionate amount of white liberal youth. A youtuber did many videos where he went to college campuses and different areas dressed with a sombrero and a mustache and all and asked if its offensive, all the young indoctrinated white people said yes. Then he went to a predominately Mexican-American area and they all said it was great and they weren’t offended.
Although the people who say they are offended won’t admit it even to themselves until they are much older, but they do it to feel like they are the good guys, like there are bad people and they have it all figured out and they are the good ones.
All the while spending 5 days worth of food in a 3rd world country on a Starbucks, and being in the top like 15% of wealth in the world (making like 25k a year is in the top 15 percent)
So, this entire post is embarassing. You should be embarassed.
Let’s get this out of the way: cultural appropriation as a concept does not mean people can’t share culture. Cultural appropriation refers specifically to people who “steal” culture without participating in the culture or following its rules.
So despite all the cringy spoiler tags you added to your post, literally nothing here is new information. Participating in a culture and following its rules is not appropriation.
The other problem here is that you clearly didn’t do this in good faith. Almost every person you spoke to was loudly telling you “Please don’t steal our culture without participating in it, and please follow our rules,” yet your takeaway is, pfft, anyone can get hajichi!
No, dude, that’s not what they told you, and the fact that that was your takeaway shows that you weren’t actually talking to these people in good faith, you were simply using them as props in an internet argument.
It’s very, very clear you thought you were going to go out into your community and disprove the entire concept of appropriation, but the irony is that nearly everyone you spoke to *agreed* with the concept, and agreed that, yes, there are conditions on participating in their culture. They directly told you, no, not just anyone should get these tattoos, but you only heard what you wanted to, only heard what you’d already decided they would say ahead of time.
As for your stupid bit about “getting offended on behalf of other people,” you’re doing something far, far worse – speaking on behalf – and speaking over – indigenous people. I genuinely hope nobody from your community finds this post, because you will be instantly identifiable, and people will know not to trust you anymore.
This entire post is super gross, and you really need to consider deleting it before someone you know sees it.
I thought all this discourse died ten years ago.
Many of the hajichiaa will not give traditional hajichi to someone who doesn’t have a clear link to Okinawa (ie Okinawan themselves or part of the Okinawa diaspora). So it doesn’t really matter what the general public thinks of non-Okinawans getting them, they still won’t be able to get them.
This post and some of the comments make me uncomfortable.
The hajichaa that I follow are reviving the practice out of both respect for their ancestors and resistance to colonialism. Cultural erasure is traumatic, and that trauma leaves its fingerprints in subsequent the generations. I don’t know if it’s possible for a non-indigenous person to really understand that. Younger uchinanchu generations are still feeling that trauma and are digging into hajicha as a way to celebrate and affirm an identity that was once shamed, punished, and erased.
It seems a odd to me for someone to wear hajichi without having ancestry who suffered the loss and shame and violence that comes with colonialism. A handful of local people giving their permission doesn’t speak for an entire culture, nor does it equal understanding on the part of the individual receiving hajichi. I find it hard to believe that someone who does understand the emotional/historical/spiritual weight, implications, and history of not just hajichi but of Ryuukyuu in general would feel comfortable seeking out hajichi. I think being offered hajichi is different, but seeking it out to me as a non-Uchinanchu feels weird.
Did you ask the foreigners if they GAF what anyone thinks about their tattoos?
Did you not have much to do?
People be white knighting for no reason. How about they go do their own interviews.
Side note: didn’t know there was a male version of hajichi tattoos
You don’t exactly sound unbiased the way you talked about those no votes. Imo if it offends even a small percentage of locals it’s not okay.
They were also clearly being polite around you.
Did you ask the locals how they would feel if even their peers got those tattoos? I’m confident they would oppose, since the empire still runs rampant.
I’ve never heard of this before. Thank you for bringing it up.
I’m also very amused about people being offended for a place they’ve never been to and for a people they’ve never met.
Oh how long did it take you to learn Japanese? I’m currently studying it and just wanted to know your thoughts about the language and tips.
I hope people understand the trauma behind these tattoos before starting to wear them as fashion.
Women of Ryukyu descent are starting to bring back this practice in honor of our ancestors.
It’s a sense of pride.
why is this whole thing spoiled bit by bit?
I wish Japanese people continued being based on tattoos. Most of them ugly as hell and made by mentally ill people. It’s so great that I can avoid sharing the same sento and hot springs.