沖縄での幼少期の経験
I'm half Okinawan, so from a little young age, I was either not Okinawan and not American.
Have you lived in Okinawa?
I mean, at the time, I probably didn't understand so much, like, why did my parents put me in a school where I didn't speak any language or have any friends or we didn't look alike.
I think a lot of what informs who I am today has been a part of what my experience was when I was in Okinawa when I was younger.
Do you remember, you know, when you entered the school, at the beginning, like, everyone is going to be reacting, like, oh, America came.
There was a lot of bullying.
At the time you were in the Kitanaka school, there was an incident of the U.S. military.
How was it?
People were like, this is gaijin, like, Yankee, go home.
Like, I received a lot of that energy or, like, the directed, yeah, the frustrations of the Okinawan people.
As an American and as in, like, a military kid, what do you think about military base in Okinawa?
It's complicated.
Do you have any religious background?
Like, Japanese people seems they don't believe anything, but they celebrate many events.
But I don't think people want to call it as a faith.
Have you seen, like, who believe in satanism?
Akane is into devil worship.
Like, how do people accept hajiji in the States?
What was the first reaction of them?
And I asked my mom, if I get tattoo, what do you think?
文化の交差点
And she was like, don't come home ever.
I want to, like, feel close to Okinawa because I know what it's like to be on the island, but I also, like, I'm not there.
And so how can I do it?
And yeah, hajiji feels like right.
What's up, amazing people?
This is Yes Yes Radio by Akane Minami.
In this radio, we're going to talk about random topics in Okinawan, Japanese and English.
So we have a guest from the US today, Mariko-san.
So let me introduce her.
Mariko Middleton, executive producer, host.
Mariko is a biracial Okinawan American living in Abenaki land in Vermont.
She blends earth-based spirituality with a deep commitment to culture, identity and collective feeling.
She works at Rainforest Action Network and is active in Okinawan cultural projects.
Co-founding the Ichariba Choude podcast, serving as co-vice president of Oani,
practicing hajiji tattooing and landing in the Shimanchu Tarot Project.
Thank you for coming.
She has many backgrounds.
Thank you for coming all the way from the US, Vermont.
Finally.
Thank you so much for having me.
We actually met in New York three weeks ago.
We didn't have time to shoot the podcast, but now we're here in Yonabaru.
It's a dream to be here.
So I want to ask a little bit about family background of you.
You are mixed of Okinawan and American.
Yes.
My mother is from Sashiki in Nanjoshi.
My father is from Vermont, the state of Vermont, which is located on Abenaki land.
You live in your dad's hometown?
Home state.
America is really big, so even within the state of Vermont.
My folks are in Brattleboro, Vermont.
I live in Montpelier.
By car, it's about two hours.
You are living in Abenaki land in Vermont.
Abenaki land.
You are not Abenaki, but you can live in Abenaki land.
Yes, it's a land acknowledgement.
Just acknowledging that I am not of that land, but I am residing on Abenaki land.
Is it normal to live in some people's land?
In the state?
In the state?
Yes.
Is it like an actual people?
Yes, the Abenaki people are there.
They have cultural festivals, and they are still there practicing.
They dress differently, or they just look normal, but they do their culture things.
Yes, maybe normal.
But of course, there is traditional wear.
Someday, we want to go to Vermont.
バーモントの自然と文化
Yes, please come.
Is it like a couple of hours from New York?
Maybe six hours from driving, but maybe take a plane.
Take a plane.
Or we could do some road trip.
Yes, a road trip is good.
You can go to Boston, and then kind of make your way out to Connecticut.
If you come in the fall, they have Koyo.
Fall foliage is really nice, so it might be a nice time to visit.
Compared to Japan, it's going to be so huge land.
That's Vermont.
Yes.
Vermont is known for their Koyo, so lots of people will come to see the foliage,
because it's lots of mountains, and then the maple trees turn orange and yellow,
and it's very beautiful.
Sounds beautiful.
Does Vermont have a hot summer?
Yes, it's hot now.
And I think because of climate change, it's also extreme heat.
And then, yeah.
But there's no sea.
There's no sea, that's true.
But there's a big lake.
We have a great lake.
Yeah, really beautiful.
I like mizu-umi.
Yeah, please come.
Mizu-umi.
Yeah, it's a big lake.
It's salty, right?
Swimming in mizu-umi is like so, you know.
Sounds clean.
For Okinawans, it's clean.
After you, you know, get off.
I like ocean though.
I like ocean.
We can float without any power.
That's true.
Okay, anyways.
Have you lived in Okinawa?
沖縄での幼少期の体験
Yes, when I was younger.
So my father is from Vermont, and then he was in the military.
He did 22 years in the Navy, and we were stationed here in Okinawa.
So 94 through 96, I was here in Kitanaka Gusku.
And so I attended Kitanaka Shogakko for three years.
So at the time, you could speak Japanese?
No, you know, yeah.
So it was kind of immersion learning.
So it was maybe a little bit difficult, but when you're young, it's easy to kind of absorb.
So yeah, it was definitely challenging at first.
But yeah, I'm grateful now for that experience.
I mean, at the time, I probably didn't understand so much.
Like, why did my parents put me in a school where I didn't speak any language or have any friends?
Or we didn't look alike.
And so maybe it was a little hard at that time.
But yeah, now as an adult, I really appreciate that opportunity.
And really, it's a privilege to be able to have the ability to speak Japanese, even if it's Japanese.
It has allowed me to be able to speak with other people,
where I think a lot of my friends and colleagues in the United States who don't have that experience or can't speak Japanese,
have difficulty connecting with family.
Or when they come back to the home islands, it's challenging for them to have the interactions that I am able to have
because I was in elementary school here.
学校での文化的な違い
Did your mom have some kind of rule that,
okay, you need to speak English here, Japanese at school, at home, or with me?
Did you have a natural way of observing everything?
I think it may be natural.
Because my dad doesn't speak Japanese,
so he primarily spoke English at home,
and then with my mom, it's Japanese.
And then my brother, who is two years younger, he only went to kindergarten,
so his Japanese is very small,
but he can still understand it somehow,
but maybe he can't speak it as well.
Can you read Japanese too?
A little bit, yeah.
Maybe I took an N3 test,
but that was also difficult.
That's right.
You have to use it.
It must be difficult.
Do you have any memories or things that you remember when you were in Okinawa?
And then the difference between being on base and then going to elementary school.
And then I actually, I think at that time,
I found a lot of peace, even as a child, in nature.
I found peace there, I think.
At the time, was there other mixed kids at school?
If it was a middle school, were there a lot of mixed kids?
I think there were more kids in Japan than in Kitanaga.
I think there were more kids in Kitanaga.
I think maybe my first year, there was one other mixed, maybe a boy,
but we didn't really talk.
And then after that, it was just me.
And then my brother was in kindergarten,
so we didn't see each other.
We were in one separately.
Do you remember, you know, when you entered the school,
at the beginning, everyone was going to be reacting like,
oh, yeah.
I mean, at that time, I think, yeah, they definitely,
I felt like I stood out, for sure.
And there was a lot of bullying.
And so I didn't understand at the time,
but now I can grapple and sort of heal those parts of myself.
And it's not anybody's fault,
but I think it's a product of U.S. military bases
and then what was happening at the time.
How old were you at the time?
I think six and then to nine.
軍事基地と地域社会の影響
I think at that time, it's not common to go to Japanese school
for half kids.
I think most of them went to school on base,
but now a lot of mixed kids go to public school in Japan.
So we see more mixed kids in school,
especially in Chatan area.
But you mentioned earlier before the shooting,
at the time you were in the Kitanaka school,
there was an incident of the U.S. military.
How was it?
Yeah, so at the time, I didn't understand.
So this was the infamous rape incident
where three military people abducted,
kidnapped a young grade school Okinawan girl.
And so at the time, I didn't know what was happening,
but there was a big community-wide,
within Okinawa, uprising in protest
against the military presence in Okinawa.
And as a kid, I didn't really understand the cause
or just why people were so upset,
but I received a lot of that energy
or the directed, the frustrations of the Okinawan people.
And so it was definitely, I didn't understand,
and it was hard.
And at that time, I ended up being pulled out of school,
and I think anybody that was off base at the time
did end up having to come back on base.
And so as a kid, I was like,
oh, I just don't have to go to school.
So I'm like, oh, day off.
But now as an adult, I'm looking back,
and I can really feel the energetic shift
of what I experienced.
It was like, oh, there was a full-on island-wide
and actually internationally covered incident
related to the US presence on Okinawa.
But yeah, so it was pretty complicated,
and it wasn't short after that
沖縄の基地に関する複雑な感情
that our family decided to move back to the States.
Yeah.
Oh.
Yeah.
It was a hageshi moment.
Yeah.
You know, we don't really experience that,
the tense between Okinawan local
and maybe the major people back then.
We learn it from like,
but we really don't know what happened
and what people react.
From your experience, I think it was really intense.
Yeah, there was lots of protests.
I mean, I was on base,
so I wasn't out there to see it.
But the world that I left from school,
and then I came back after people
were allowed to go back again.
And so, I mean, I was in third grade.
So what do you remember from third grade?
Like, not a lot,
but I do remember that the feeling
of going back to school,
people were like, this is gaijin.
Like, go home.
And so I had experienced that the two years before,
but then it got really bad after that incident.
Who are they?
Is it like acting?
She's talking about like,
there is some few people
at the gate of the base,
and they do that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But we don't really know
who they came from sometimes.
And people don't really care.
And we don't care either.
It's been so long time
that we call, you know,
living with the American people.
So we even have like,
you know, sympathy.
Yeah.
To, you know,
our generation doesn't have,
you know, anything,
hatred toward military people.
It's more like, we're friends.
I think it's because we don't have
like that kind of experience.
Yeah.
I think, yeah.
Yeah, maybe.
We don't have been forced to do something
because of the incident.
I think it's our parents' generation
had a hard time.
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah.
I think it's important, though,
to know the history.
And I know that the people
that are protesting,
say at Hanako,
like those are people
who like remember the war.
And like that generation
is getting older.
But they have the memory
of the war experience.
And they want to make sure that maybe
Okinawa doesn't become a battlefield again.
And I think it's very important
that people are there.
Yeah.
As an American,
and as in like a military kids,
what do you think about military base?
It's complicated.
Yeah.
I would love to have like
another whole hour
to be able to talk this.
And then maybe bring in other people
that have mixed backgrounds.
Because the mixed experience
of being Okinawan and something else,
and especially being Okinawan
and a product of the military,
it's a little complicated
because I love my dad.
And I think, you know,
he is proud to have done 22 years
in the Navy.
And we have a long,
or my dad,
my dad's side of the family
has a very long legacy of service
in the US military,
like World War I
and that kind of thing.
And so it's not taking away
from their pride
and what they've done for their country.
But I do think that
the number of bases
that exist on Okinawa
is excessive.
And then the people that suffer from it
are the Okinawan people.
And so I think that's something
that needs to be looked at and addressed.
And there are lots of people
that are out there promoting that
or amplifying what is happening here
so that people can know
and then maybe make decisions
based off of that.
My aunt is a former military wife.
She had a PFAS problem.
And she had to blame it on her aunt.
She had an aunt from my hometown.
But from my aunt's point of view,
she didn't pollute the water.
Something like that.
That's true.
So it's not about the person at the time.
It's about a bigger organization.
I don't think it's a matter of
what people think about the opinion.
I think it's a matter of freedom.
Not someone.
It's not individuals.
It's the machine that is the US military.
Society and system.
And we can't blame individual marine guys.
Because I don't know shit.
I came here as a job
and they don't know shit too.
This is so controversial.
I did go to Henoko this trip.
I had this feeling for the people
that were guarding the Henoko area.
They also need a job.
So they get paid to do it.
It's so hard to have Okinawan
maybe younger generation
just trying to support their family.
And then people that are
against Henoko.
That moment of tension
is just really difficult to see.
It's really unfortunate.
I think we keep doing it after the war.
You know, after the war.
We've been doing the same thing
since the end of the war.
We've been doing the same thing
since the beginning of the war.
It's been 80 years.
People want to discuss about this stuff.
Because they don't know how to get out
the conversation, right?
Because we need to sometimes
agree to disagree or
アイデンティティと環境保護
maybe some younger generation
doesn't have any opinion.
Towards the base.
It's difficult.
It's definitely complicated.
It depends on who your parents are.
It depends on who you marry.
Because the position changes.
If you can share
personal opinion
and Japanese opinion
or Okinawan opinion
and talk about it,
peace.
Have a good discussion.
Not fighting.
On the last point,
I think at the baseline
we can agree that protecting environment
is good.
Having clean water is good.
If we focus, at least the way
that I approach it,
if we can focus on that,
then maybe there's a way
to find a balance.
To be able to drink your own tap water
or go to the prayer sites
and be able to go and touch the water
from Utaki or the sacred springs.
I think that's really important.
Maybe if we focus on that
instead of being like the other,
like the military or whatever,
maybe that's a way to approach it.
You used to work
インタースピリチュアルな実践
at the center of the inter-spiritual...
Interfaith center.
Interfaith center.
I used to work at a place
called All Souls Interfaith Gathering.
It's a non-denominational
inter-spiritual center.
I was there for about seven years.
This is before I have my job now
working at the Rainforest Action Network.
First time I hear the inter-spiritual.
Or the interfaith.
What is that?
Interfaith, inter-spiritual,
there's sort of levels.
Interfaith is the acknowledgement
of many different faiths
and their validity
and learning about it.
And inter-spiritual is kind of
the embodiment of those practices together.
Japanese might be a little difficult.
So you work at the center
and then people having
different background of religious
coming together and
talk or practice other...
Understand each other.
Other customs.
It's kind of like a safe space
to learn for individuals
but also to come together.
We actually did a lot of interfaith weddings.
People whose history,
their families have fundamentally
different backgrounds,
but two people love each other
and want to get married.
Do we go to church?
Do we go to synagogue?
Do we go to the temple?
Where do you go?
Having a neutral place
it's not about only
like brides and grooms,
but it's like
whole family include
to this thing.
So it's going to be complicated.
US has, I think,
a lot of people has a background
in Japanese.
So we didn't know
that there's a center like that.
I think even within the US,
it's not many places.
That's amazing.
Do you have any religious background?
Not from my family,
but I'm practicing
inter-spiritual,
so I bring elements of Okinawa culture
and then things that I've learned
around paganism and so specifically
Druidry is a path that I've studied
and they actually blend
very nicely together,
which is that our spirits
or God or whatever you want to call it
is all around us.
It's like in the rocks, it's in the trees,
it's in the water.
And that's why I want to protect the environment so much
is because the spirit is there.
I could see that connection
like you starting from
international spirituality.
Inter-spiritual.
Yeah.
Aminism,
and now I work
to protect nature.
日本の信仰と習慣
Yeah.
Aminism.
Yeah.
Animism and ancestor worship.
That's very Japanese.
Okinawan.
Way to believe.
Earlier we talked about
how Japanese people
worship something
or if they are religious or not.
Yeah, those people have
belief in general.
Yeah.
Japanese people seem
they don't believe anything
but they celebrate many events.
Like they go to a shrine
for New Year's
and they celebrate Christmas
and everything.
But I don't think people want to call it
as a faith.
But they do
stuff.
They prefer this.
Right?
Yeah.
The word itself.
Yeah, they have
a logic to take it.
Yeah.
Asahara Shoko.
Their group
is so religious about him.
Yeah.
It connects to those
negative image
of Shinko Shukyo.
Yeah.
But if you go overseas
there are many religions
and they believe their things
and it's really normal
to call Shukyo.
But you know
if Omu Shindikyo did
that a lot
impact to us
we don't want to talk about any religious
in public.
Then maybe 30, 40 years later
maybe people start believing something.
Because it's gonna be so old.
What about yoga?
Right? Yoga, meditation.
A lot of people believe in yoga, especially
people in the city.
They don't even realize it's like Buddha things.
Wait, one more time.
Not Buddha, Hindu things.
Not Hindu, but they do
yoga, but they don't believe in
Hindu.
They just do yoga as like exercise.
Yeah.
Religious exercise.
Sometimes seems like
religious, but it's
exercise.
A lot of yogi
or like people
into yoga, like
teaching people like
in Hindu we believe
in like
something as a something.
But you are not
Hindu.
Support
Hindu?
They don't believe in?
Force to support
believe in
Hindu because they do yoga.
I think it's a fashion.
What do you think though?
What do you think in US? People doing yoga
doesn't believe?
I think, yeah, I mean this kind of goes to like
exoticism or like
kind of fashion or what's popular.
I mean it is good for you, right?
I've done yoga before. It's really wonderful
for your body. It's probably the healthiest I've ever
felt. But
yeah, I mean originally
it's like a prayer. It's like you wake up
every morning and you pray, right?
And you do that with your body.
That is the hint or at least
how I understand it. It was a form
of prayer, but I definitely think it's become
fashion and
like get your smoothie and go to spin
class or yoga or something
like that.
Because
veganism is also
a religion, right?
It's not a religion, but it's like a religion
now.
It's a religion.
Definitely a religion.
Veganism.
Veganism is a religion.
But I think
it may be kind of similar mentality, right?
Like this is more
everything is.
But you know,
can we talk about veganism?
You work as a
veganism.
Veganism?
I said
what I meant was veganism.
Veganism.
You meant was
veganism?
Veganism.
You thought it was veganism?
No, no.
We're on the same page.
I thought all of a sudden it was about veganism
and I was like what?
That's weird.
So Mariko does
work as a protecting
environment.
All the people doing veganism
because they wanted to
protect the animal.
I want to know
what do you think about it?
Are you vegan?
I'm not vegan.
No, I mean I think
it's everybody's choice what they do.
I think it's everybody's choice.
Because some religions you do
want to eat meat, right?
But I can understand also
how people would want to protect animals
and choose not to eat.
I think it's all okay.
If you look at
the structure environmentally
like methane is produced
by cows, America eats a lot of cows
so let's stop eating
cows.
That's a very basic overview of
how that might work.
I can understand that lens as well.
I think it's everybody's choice
how they choose to.
In Okinawa
some people who are vegan
want to protect animals
and they like to
eat organic
and they like
to have like
spiritual conversation
doing yoga
and
Oh my gosh.
What else?
Everything together.
They are all friends.
Shukyo?
Veganism.
Veganism.
I don't know.
If they do yoga
it's a new
organism.
Or people who are just
interested in being healthy.
Hippie.
Hippie.
Wannabe hippie.
Wannabe hippies.
Live in the city.
I think there's some
in America too.
Not in the city
but they want to have a modern life
but they want to believe in
very earthy
life.
Like
linen.
Everything is organic.
Everything is handmade.
You gotta know where this was sourced.
Absolutely.
That's hippie.
I like them too.
Being healthy and having good food.
Organic ones.
But sometimes
it's intense.
Especially
towards politics.
When they start business
Yeah.
We always talk about that.
It seems fake.
Like
There are
some people in Okinawa
they want their veganism
or believing in spirituality
into a business.
It suddenly looks like sketchy.
As a local Okinawan
spirituality is based
on everyone.
So I don't need
some influencer
telling people what to believe.
I don't know.
There are times like that.
That's true.
In the States?
Yeah, for sure.
On Instagram, influencers
having a certain lifestyle.
This is what I do for breakfast.
This is how I live my life.
Who are you?
What kind of life are you living?
That's different kind of religious.
Instagram is
new religion.
Technology.
Oh my god.
I'm so interested in
worship, evil.
Worship, devil.
Devil worship.
Akane is
into devil worship.
I'm not into, but I'm interested.
You are so curious
about devil worship.
Since we have inter-spiritual teacher
let's discuss about that.
I'm not a teacher.
Why do people even
worship devil?
What kind of people worship devil?
I can't speak to who worships
the devil.
Let's hear about Akane's experience.
You saw on the TV.
I saw on the
drama or movie.
American drama movie.
The university students go to
government and they
send invitation, like secret invitation.
If you go there,
they wear like
Is it real?
No.
アイデンティティの探求
I don't think that's real.
I don't think that's real.
I think they are sensationalizing it
for good drama.
Maybe the roots of it
are
trying to
explain something that they don't
understand.
You mentioned about
Satan.
I feel that
people are like
that's satanic or satanism.
I think there is a big misunderstanding
about how that's represented.
I think I explained it better
before.
I think there are people
that see the story
of Lucifer
as it relates to Christianity.
As being
kind of a model for questioning
ultimate authority.
Authority that might not necessarily
have
unquestioned authority.
I think people
see that as a
symbol and they want to
worship that.
They identify with elements
of challenging power.
That power being Christianity.
Maybe looking at
culture or
politics, the world that we live in now.
Maybe that aspect
is how I understand it.
I know people who are
practicing pagans or identify
as satanists.
They are very kind people.
Have you seen
people who believe in satanism?
Yeah.
I've met people.
Not like close.
Not close or anything.
Is there
satanism?
There is.
The concept.
The idea.
We don't know how many people
are into that.
What do they do?
Not religion.
The way they think.
I don't know about religion.
I think you would have to ask somebody
that I can't speak
for those people.
I have been to gatherings.
There is this
called the Parliament of World Religions.
It happens every three or five years.
It's a gathering of
faiths from across the world.
It's kind of like interfaith.
An opportunity for people to gather and talk about
what they believe in and address
global issues.
I think there are
people that are
maybe from that background that can come.
You should probably talk to them about
directly.
That's so niche.
I'm just curious
how they dress.
My image
of them is
they wear only black.
Yeah.
Gothic looking.
I think it might be a little bit dangerous
to say that somebody does something
based on the way that they look.
I think that goes back to
challenging the cultural norms.
It's all in English.
I think that for me
I take that particularly personally
because I'm half.
From a little young age
I was not Okinawan and not American.
I had different phases.
I don't know about you all but I had different phases
in my life growing up where I was trying to find
my own identity.
I definitely had a hippie era.
I definitely had a gothic era.
So I would try different clothes
and did different things to figure out who it is
that I am and I've landed now.
I probably will change from here too.
We are fluid.
Don't judge by looks.
That's right.
It's hard to find
people who dress
specific towards
what they believe.
It's kind of rare in modern era.
Going back to
Armish and Jewish
in Brooklyn.
If you go that far
it might be obvious but
other than that it looks like normal people
when they do believe something.
It's definitely related though.
For sure.
I'm just curious.
She's curious about
devil worship.
I'm going to search it again.
About how they
dress.
I want to ask you about hajiji.
How do people
accept hajiji in the States?
How do people react?
Are they going to react towards you?
Yeah.
I think people do question
having hand tattoos
specifically is pretty rare.
Where I am, if you go to Hawaii
or the cities
people will have more tattoos.
I live in a pretty rural area
so having tattoos at all is
a little rare.
My family
actually did not want me to get tattoos.
I didn't tell them. I just did it.
What was the first reaction
of them?
They didn't talk to me.
They got mad.
It's my body.
It was part of my identity journey.
Reclamation.
You have full
hajiji on just right hand.
Does it mean something?
For me, this is just for me.
It's not traditional.
I went full one hand
because of the experience that I had growing up.
I wanted to be like
okay. I had been doing the podcast
and had done a lot of identity work up until that point.
I felt this was a good way to show my
commitment to myself
and my identity journey
and cultural historical
reclamation.
One hand. I did leave this open
intentionally. This should be colored in
to represent
a part
of me that hasn't quite finished
my identity journey.
This one, I'm slowly building
and I get from different hajicha.
Shout outs to my friends
Ava, Erin, and Ko.
Can you show it to this camera?
The circle.
Yeah.
You want to add color here.
Eventually.
Nice.
Each one
as I do something
I add to it.
This one, Hawaii.
ハジチと沖縄文化
We had hajichi gathering
and maybe
30 people with hajichi
came and talked about
strangers. Just invited people to talk.
Then
the Tontomi was after
I think it was my first
experience going to the United
Nations.
We had a small talk on hajichi
and my friend Ko who is also hajicha
she did those for me after that.
As I have different
milestones, I'm trying to add too.
There's many hajicha
in the states.
Yeah, in Brazil.
Okinawa.
Regular
Okinawan tattooists, they do hajichi too.
But not as a ritual.
Especially guys.
They really studied it.
They don't want to say it.
They do other stuff too.
They don't want to advertise their hajicha.
But they can do it.
It depends on the recipient.
If you don't like it
then you go to hajicha.
Yeah.
But to me,
if Okinawan has
the spirit
then I don't mind.
As long as
the person feels good.
I think hajichi
is more famous
in Okinawa than the rest of the world.
As a popular place.
But there are
a lot of foreigners
in Okinawa.
Is it because
it's more
you know, the overseas has
acceptance to tattooing itself?
I think so.
Tattoo itself is
open.
I think
people in America
has more strong identity.
Who they are.
If there is a way to show it
or to put it in their body
I think if I were
you know,
Okinawan grew up in the States
maybe I would do more.
It's a little modest.
So
I think it's better to be outside.
If there is something
to show
it's good.
If you live in Okinawa
you don't have to
do everything.
Maybe most people are like that.
Tattooing itself is a really bad image.
In Japan.
I think my parents
react the same.
I don't have any tattoos.
I asked my mom
what do you think?
She was like, don't come home ever.
That's why
I don't have tattoos. I want to go home.
They will accept you
anyway.
Eventually.
I think that's part of
the reclamation.
Originally
our ancestors did hajichi.
And then after colonization
by Japan
pretty violently
no more culture.
Hajichi and that kind of thing.
I do agree with you
that there is a certain power
that people can have outside of Okinawa.
Both identity
and privilege.
Tattooing is more accepted.
There is another piece
that I think
being away from a culture
or a home makes you
want to be there.
The ultimate thing
that you can do, at least for me,
is I want to wear it.
I want to have my hair this way.
I want to feel close to Okinawa
because I know what it's like to be on the island
but I also
am not there.
So how can I do it?
Hajichi feels right.
I thought maybe it would be strange
but when I look at my hands
I'm like, oh, kind of nice.
I'm like, oh, I'm home.
Do you feel that way?
How was your Hajichi experience?
If I go to Tokyo
for work and some of my clients
sometimes ask, what's that?
on your hands
they will bring up
the conversation about
who I am and being Okinawa
so they are more interested in
people are basically interested
in Okinawa itself, the tourist spot
but tattooing is more like
refreshing things
for them to see
so I don't
get Hajichi because
that I won't
have discussion or anything
but it can be an icebreaker
to introduce our culture
and then I can ask
them culture too, right?
Open up the conversation.
Yeah, exchange.
I will say
I've been asked before by other
indigenous people
you're like, oh, are you indigenous?
they can tell by the style of the
tattooing that it's indigenous
people. They're like, where
are you from? I'm like, oh, that's
kind of nice to be like
you see me in a different way.
Yeah, nice to be
acknowledged.
How do you know it's an indigenous kind of tattoo?
Like this Hawaiian
tribal
Maori
Even if you're not
from there
the atmosphere
of the tattoo
is like an identity
kind of tattoo.
It's not fashion
It looks like
it's not fashion
Ya-go
or
the sign
like a family crest
or like the Mitoko family crest
I think it's resonate like a religious vibes come in
I don't want to talk about religion, but
identity, faith, and religion are connected
Instinct, we can feel it
You know, this person have this kind of tattoo
I don't know what that means, but it looks like
you know, some strong identity, meaning
you can feel it by instinct
Yeah, I can feel it.
People in Hawaii can feel it, too
Would you get hajichi if your mom was like, no?
I want to get hajichi, eventually
And I'm also interested in the sun
Because my daughter's name is Tira
沖縄文化との関わり
It means taiyou in Okinawan
So me and my husband talked
After she is born, we want to get taiyou mark
But I haven't done anything yet
Yeah, don't do it yet
I want to get it when I want to
Absolutely, the time is right
I also tell people that you don't have to get it
It doesn't make you any less Okinawan
If you don't have hajichi
Everybody, it's your choice
That's cool
I'm excited for your journey
You do like many Okinawan things
Like you become a president of Kenjinkai
And you're doing like Shima...
Sorry, I made a mistake
Icharibacho
And you do hajichi and many things
But when did you start doing Okinawan stuff?
Like activity of Okinawa
I mean, you grew up with it
But when we were young
We didn't represent Okinawa so much
Because it's too normal for us
But how about you?
When did you start doing this stuff?
Okinawa
