TATTOOING IN JAPAN - AINU AND RYUKYU TATTOOS

While tattoos fell out of favor on mainland Japan, indigenous cultures like the Ainu of Hokkaido and the Ryūkyū islanders (now Okinawa) preserved rich tattoo traditions. Ainu women practiced anchipiri, a tattoo around the mouth signifying womanhood and marriage eligibility. Ryūkyū women practiced hajichi, tattooing hands and arms with woven-pattern designs symbolizing spirituality, adulthood, and cultural identity. These tattoos held spiritual, aesthetic, and social value, untouched by the criminal connotations forming in central Japan—until forced assimilation led to their eventual ban.