Tattoo ritual in the Ainu culture
The practice of tattoo art was an exclusive act for females as the art of tattoos was brought about by the Ancestral mother of the Ainu, Okikurumi Turesh Machi, the younger sister of the god Okikurumi. Mothers taught their daughters how to tattoo and so on, making it an activity from the matrilineal line. The Ainu saw tattoos as a necessary condition for marriage and the afterlife, it was also used to keep evil spirits from entering their bodies. Various marks were placed on parts of the body as charms against diseases. They perceived it as part of their religion. The tattoo process was to prepare girls for childbirth, as it was very painful, so these girls were expected not to show how much pain they were in. if the pain were to be too great the girls would be held down by an assistant so the process could continue.
Most tattoo artists were grandmothers or maternal aunts, often referred to as “tattoo aunts” or “tattoo women”. The modern term for tattooing itself is “nuye” meaning “to carve”, “to tattoo”, and “to write”. It can also be referred to as “sinuye” having the more literal meaning of “to carve oneself”. But in the more ancient times the term “anchi-piri” was used.
The traditionally used instruments for Ainu tattooing were called “makiri”, they were knife-like in form and often had decorated sheaths and handles. These decorations were carvings in zoomorphic and apotropaic motifs. Before the Ainu stepped over to steel, the tips of the makiri were made of sharpened obsidian, where they wound most of the stone with fiber so only the tip of the point would protrude. This would ensure better control over the depth of the incisions. During the tattooing process, blood was wiped away with a cloth saturated in “nire”, a hot ash wood or a spindlewood antiseptic. The tattoo women would rub soot into the incisions and proceed to sing a “yukar”, a portion of an epic poem. Going as follows: “Even without it, she’s so beautiful. The tattoo around her lips, how brilliant it is. It can only be wondered at.” Afterwards, she would recite a spell or magic formula so more pigment would get into the skin: “pas ci-yay, roski, roski, pas ren-ren”. This means “soot enclosed remain, soot sink in, sink in”.
The process of receiving tattoos would often take many years, as it happened at specific intervals. For example, the tattoos around the mouth, young girls who often were 6 or 7 years old would start with a small dot on the upper lip. Over the years this dot would expand until it became a large band around the whole of the mouth with curves on both cheeks towards the ears. After tattooing the lips, the girl would experience severe pain, swelling, and maybe even become feverish making it impossible to eat or sleep. When she got thirsty a piece of cotton grass would get soaked in water and put against her lips so she could suck on it.
The lip tattoo would allegedly repel evil spirits from entering the body via the mouth and causing sickness or misfortune, also securing her place with her deceased ancestors after death. Next to this, if the lip tattoo was finished it signified the woman had achieved full maturity and was ready for marriage. On the wedding day the husband would make the final cuts for her tattoo.
Another example of tattoos was arm tattoos. These were usually in curvilinear and geometric motifs. These tattoos also started during the younger years of an Ainu girl, around 5 or 6 years old, and would repel evil spirits. Burial cords or “upsor-kut” greatly resembled the tattoos on the arms of Ainu women. Commonly the daughters of Ainu chiefs were the first who got tattooed on their arms, this suggests that these tattoos held some kind of social status.
When the Japanese government tried to ‘unify’ Japan as a country and started to prohibit ethnic practices, the Japanese government prohibited the use of tattoos by the Ainu many times. The Ainu could no longer tattoo their younger females, although the already existing tattoos were approved. One of the reasons for prohibiting tattooing was because tattoos were associated with crime and punishment and the act itself was seen as self-mutilation, going against the Confucian filial conduct.
Tatoos in golden kamuy
Asirpa’s grandmother is depicted with a mouth tattoo as is Monoa. (see image below)
The tool which was used for tattooing is depicted in the manga, it is called a makiri but they don’t explain what it is specifically used for they just call it a ‘short sword’. (see image below)
They do however mention that men used to handmake a makiri and give them to the woman they liked. The woman would then look at the craftsmanship and decide whether the man was good enough.
The arm tattoos were also mentioned in the manga. In the image below it is explained that Ainu women were the ones who wore the tattoos and that they often stood for maturity or beauty. It also mentions that there are records of the tattooing continuing until the Taisho period, we found however that there are still women to this day who are trying to honour their ancestors and traditions by tattooing their face and arms.
In the image below it is mentioned that the Ainu tattoos differed per region, however we did not seem to find any information confirming this. Therefore, it is difficult to say if this is a fact or fiction made up for the plot.
All the other tattoos depicted in the manga Golden Kamuy are not related to the Ainu. Therefore, we think that the significance of the tattooing ritual has been neglected and that it could have been brought to light better as it was a huge part of the Ainu culture.