Reading Notes Week 12B: Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman

Main characters mother is dying-

"it was hard for me to imagine my mother surviving this winter with her failing health" (402)

Tattoos seem to have some mystical power or force that prevents mothers from living long-

"tattoos have caused suffering in almost every Ryukyuan family. Even if a woman can save enough money to send several sons to higher school, she is destined to be left behind in her hometown until she dies, thanks to those tattoos on the back of her hands" (402)

Based on her defense of the memoirs, she seemed to have offended people by using the term "Okinawan people".  She grouped a few different races together and the people who called her out were in fact being the racist ones. The other never used that term in racial context. (407)