| Moeko Heshiki is no ordinary tattoo artist: she is one of the few people keeping the once-banned tradition of hajichi body art alive for the Indigenous Ryukyu people of Japan's Okinawa region.
The traditionally hand-poked markings were once common on women of the Ryukyu, who lived throughout the southern islands of what is now Japan.
The monochrome patterns, ranging from delicate arrow-like symbols to arrays of large dots, marked important moments in a woman's life and, in some cases, were believed to ensure passage to heaven.
When Japan annexed the Okinawa Island chain in 1879, however, a process of forced assimilation set the hajichi tradition on the path to extinction.
In mainland Japan, tattoos were associated with illegal behaviour because criminals were sometimes tattooed by authorities to mark them out.
A ban on the markings was lifted after World War II, but the practice did not resume, and as women with hajichi passed away, the culture seemed destined to die out.
Click 'read more' to learn more about the revival of hajichi. | 