At the start of the performance Chisato Minamimura introduces herself as a deaf Japanese woman. She is also a beautiful contemporary dancer and mime artist. Using dance, mime and sign language (with a pre-recorded audio) she explores and celebrates the history of women and tattooing. The show also uses something called woojer straps, a vibrating belt designed to offer an additional sensory experience. While the reviewer did not partake, her companion did and has offered their thoughts.
During the performance Minamimura looks at various historic and often personal accounts of female tattooing. Starting with the Japanese practice of hajichi, a hand tattooing done by the Ryukyuan women on Okinawa island. Initially done as a rite of passage into adulthood and marriage, each pattern had a meaning. Unfortunately, at the very end of the nineteenth century the custom was suppressed and banned by the Meiji government and torturous treatments were used to remove the women’s tattoos.
She also looks into the practise of unspecified remote islanders who used body markings as signs of status and symbolism.
She then covers in fair detail the story of Maud Stevens Wagner, who was the first real recorded female tattoo artist. An American, she started out in the circus but met Gus Wagner who also worked in circuses and sideshows and billed himself as the most artistically marked up man in America. He taught her to tattoo, and they made their careers working both as tattoo artists and tattooed attractions across the states.
Finally, Minamimura brings the story to the modern day with interviews with Shuko Fujita , a modern Japanese woman living in the UK but who has decided to adorn her hands with the hajichi traditional markings and Sonia Zambakides, who after a double mastectomy had tattoos done rather than reconstructive surgery. Both are women with powerful stories.
Minamimura is a highly skilled dancer and movement artist, and the majority of the show is comparatively easy to follow. However, there are sections where additional audio information would assist greatly in the understanding of the story being told. The digital animation used in parts is an excellent addition to show not only historical images and information but help carry the narrative. He vibration given through the woojer system adds a level of sensory enhancement at certain points.
Set on a simple stage with a couple of props and a video screen, Mark of a Woman is an informative and enjoyable if very personal look at a fascinating topic. But it requires constant visual attention making it a very intense fifty minutes. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile fifty minutes and deserves to be seen.
Reviewer: Helen Jones
Reviewed: 4th October 2025
North West End UK Rating: