Ainu Tattoos: Sacred Protection, Then a Crime

About this episode

Everyone knows Japan has a complicated relationship with tattoos — but most people blame the wrong group. Long before the Yakuza gave tattoos their modern stigma, Japan's indigenous Ainu people were being punished, shamed, and legally banned from practicing a tattoo tradition thousands of years old. In this episode: The origin story and animist religion behind Ainu tattoos How Ainu tattoos were actually done (tools, ink, and technique) The meaning behind Ainu women's mouth and arm tattoos Why and how the Japanese government banned Ainu tattooing How Ainu women preserved their traditions in secret Where the Ainu tattoo revival stands today We also cover the darker chapter of this history: how Japan's push toward Westernization and Meiji-era "civilization" campaigns led to Ainu tattoos being outlawed, practitioners being publicly shamed in newspapers, and generations of forced assimilation — and how Ainu women kept the tradition alive in secret until Japan finally recognized the Ainu as an indigenous people in 2019. Support Ainu artists: The Mirai Project Learn more about the Ainu: https://www.global.hokudai.ac.jp/catchup/21123/ https://www.biratori-ainu-c