Tattooing among the Western Micronesians

Hasebe, Kotondo (1928). "Tattooing among the Western Micronesians" (PDF). XLIII. Society Of Tokyo: 1–28.

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Abstract: Hasebe Kotondo’s 1928 study, “西部ミクロネシア人の文身” (“Tattooing among the Western Micronesians”), published in The Journal of the Anthropological Society of Tokyo (Vol. XLIII), provides one of the earliest systematic comparative surveys of tattooing practices across western Micronesia, including Tobi, Sonsorol, Pulo Anna, Palau, Yap, Ulithi (Mogmog and Fais), Woleai, Ifalik, Lamotrek, Satawal, and neighboring island groups . Based on field observations of approximately 350 individuals during 1927 fieldwork, the article documents the presence, distribution, terminology, motifs, and bodily placement of tattoos, supplemented by detailed line drawings and motif inventories. Hasebe distinguishes multiple regional styles: (1) torso-encircling and upper-body band motifs among Sonsorol–Pulo Anna populations; (2) extensive lower-limb serrated and cross-patterned tattooing in Palau and neighboring islands; (3) the elaborate yō (full-torso) tattoo complex of Yap and adjacent atolls; (4) gender-differentiated arm and wrist bands characteristic of eastern Caroline groups; and (5) localized rank-associated or clan-linked variants. He records indigenous terminology for specific motifs (e.g., named elements within Sonsorol designs), technical details of tools and pigments (often derived from plant resins and soot), ritual restrictions, age of initiation, and the social stratification reflected in tattoo extent and placement. The article concludes with a regional typology of six major tattoo forms across western Micronesia, arguing for both historical diffusion and localized innovation. As an early Japanese anthropological contribution during the South Seas Mandate period, the study remains an important primary ethnographic source on pre–mid-20th-century Micronesian body art, social hierarchy, and inter-island cultural transmission.