Archive Note
Her work centers on sinuye, the traditional tattooing of Ainu women, which the Meiji government banned in 1871 as part of an assimilation policy that suppressed Ainu language and culture. Because original hand-to-hand transmission ended before the contemporary revival, her practice is best understood as reconstruction rather than unbroken continuation, and she does not currently apply permanent tattoos; instead she paints the sinuye pattern on her face with cosmetic pigment for exhibitions and public appearances, treating the act as research, public memory, and political statement. Her fieldwork includes asking elders to draw remembered patterns on her face, turning the revival into an oral-history practice. She is also a member of Marewrew, an Ainu women's vocal group focused on upopo call-and-response singing, and her work has been shown internationally, including at the 2020 Sydney Biennale.