Written by Lee A. Tonouchi
Illustrations by Laura Kina
Japanese and Okinawan translations by Masashi Sakihara
Published by Bess Press, June 2019
ISBN: 978-1-57306-5320
Hardcover, Color 48pp, 11″ x 10″
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Okinawan Princess: Da Legend of Hajichi Tattoos is an illustrated, transpacific feminist fairy tale for all readers that illuminates an ancient tradition and pushes back against normative standards of beauty. When Gramma notices how much her granddaughter wishes she could look like a supermodel, Gramma shares how her own mother was made fun of when she moved to Hawai‘i from Okinawa due to the bold blue hajichi tattoos on the back of her hands. Gramma then reveals the legend behind those mysterious markings. When the Okinawan Princess is kidnapped by Japanese pirates, will she wait for someone to save her or will she be able to outwit her captors? This trilingual story is written in Hawai‘i Creole, translated into Japanese, and the endangered indigenous Okinawan language called Uchinaaguchi. Okinawan Princess is part of the ongoing efforts to revitalize Okinawan language, history, and culture worldwide.
Lee A. Tonouchi is a full Okinawan yonsei born and raised in Hawai’i. He is known as “Da Pidgin Guerrilla” for his championing of Pidgin a.k.a Hawai’i Creole to be accepted as a legitimate language. His last book, Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son: One Hawai’i Okinawan Journal, published by Bess Press, won the Association for Asian American Studies Book Award for Poetry/Prose.
Laura Kina is a “hapa, yonsei, Uchinanchu” artist and educator based in Chicago. Her artwork addresses Asian American and mixed-race identities and histories with a focus on Okinawa and Hawaiʻi diasporas. She is a Vincent de Paul Professor of Art, Media, & Design at DePaul University and coeditor of War Baby/Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art (University of Washington Press, 2013), and Que(e)rying Contemporary Asian American Art (University of Washington Press, 2017).
“Together, Tonouchi and Kina offer a visually and linguistically rich, decolonizing feminist tale, complete with humor and beauty, celebrating the power and history of an indigenous women’s practice.”
– Mira Shimabukuro, International Examiner
“This is a book of female empowerment, teaching young girls that smarts and inner beauty will take you farther in life than good looks.”
– Jodie Chiemi Ching, The Hawai‘i Herald
Book Press
Mira Shimabukuro, Okinawan Princess reclaims the power of a forbidden cultural practice in Okinawan culture, International Examiner, February 18, 2020
Jodie Chiemi Ching, “Da Pidgin Guerilla” Lee Tonouchi’s Local Feminist Fairy Tale, The Hawai‘i Herald, July 24, 2019