HIROMI

This clothe called Hajichi is inspired by the women hand’s back tattoo (usually in blue color) used by the indigenous Okinawan people ‘uchInanchu’ until 1899, when it was prohibited by the government of Japan. During this period, Okinawa (Ryukyu Kingdom) was annexed to Japan.
Tattoing their hands was something traditional between them and after the prohibition it became a shame.
So doing this clothe is to reminisce what these women had experienced and it's an attempt to return some of their identity and also form ours, removing the feeling of shame, to put in place a feeling of pride in being uchinanchu.

This cloThe is made by two paintings made by manual abrasion with sandpaper and bleaching techniques over denim.
The first painting is called EXCAVATION - Identity and Ancestry, it represents a face from an uchinanchu woman.
The second painting is called HAJICHI HANDS, it represents two hands with hajichi tattoo on hand’s back.
Through creative pattern design, these two paintings became a clothe, as you can see on ‘Demountable Hajichi’ film.