C5. Ryukyuan (Okinawan) Language Issues

American-Okinawan working to keep Ryukyu language alive Byron Fija, who knows nothing about his American father and little about his Okinawan mother, now works to preserve Uchinaguchi, a native language in Okinawa, after having overcome an identity crisis. Japan Times, 13 Jun 2015.

“Wanne Uchinanchu – I am Okinawan.” Japan, the US and Okinawa’s Endangered Languages Patrick Heinrich interviews Fija Bairon on Okinawa’s endangered languages and culture, and efforts to restore them. "In this article Okinawan language and cultural activist Fija Bairon speaks on the discovery of his Okinawan identity and on his attempts to maintain and revitalize Uchinaguchi, one of five Ryukyuan languages. An introduction addresses issues of Ryukyuan language endangerment and the local attempts of language revitalisation." The Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus, 22 Nov, 2007.

言葉も心も、次代へ紡ぐ「なくなったら寂しいさーね」しまとぅくばの日　本村清子さん（82）宜野湾市　冊子自費出版、孫のため歌も This is an article about a women who made a book to protect Okinawan by her own money. 琉球新報, 19 Sep 2021

沖縄の方言を徹底解説！日常会話で使われる定番のウチナーグチ（沖縄方言）人気TOP10をおばーに喋ってもらって This is an article about the current situation of Okinawan from the perspective of young Okinawan men. おきなわマグネット, 24 Aug 2017

しまとぅくば「文字表記確立して」「学校教科に」継承に識者ら提案 This is an article about the proposal given by the Okinawan language successor to make Okinawan language be one of the school subjects. 琉球新報, 19 Sep 2020

ハイサイ！！うちなぁぐち　比嘉光龍 This is a vlog of Byron Fija. He is teatching Okinawan languages in this vlog and sometimes explains about the history, and culture of Okinawa. Goo, 2009

In Japan’s Okinawa, saving indigenous languages is about more than words This article looks at the current situation and history of Okinawan and other Ryukuan languages, at discussions about their connections with Okinawan identity, and briefly at debates about what it means to save an endangered language. Washington Post, 29 Nov 2014.

Use them or lose them: There’s more at stake than language in reviving Ryukyuan tongues An article by Patrick Heinrich about the situation of the six main Ryukuan languages, including Okinawan, and why it's important to save or revitalise them. Japan Times, 25 Aug 2014.

American-Okinawan working to keep Ryukyu language alive Byron Fija, who knows nothing about his American father and little about his Okinawan mother, now works to preserve Uchinaguchi, a native language in Okinawa, after having overcome an identity crisis. Japan Times, 13 Jun 2015.

Okinawans push to preserve unique language Uchinaguchi, spoken in the southern half of the main island of Okinawa, is for the most part completely unintelligible to most Japanese. Even Okinawans who grew up speaking standard Japanese consider Uchnaguchi just a dialect, something subordinate to Japanese, and some people expect the language to be extinct in a few decades. Japan Times, 19 May 2012.

Introduction To The Okinawan Language: Uchina Guchi "Japanese IS NOT the native language of Okinawa". A webpage with some history and background information, plus lots of examples of vocabulary and pronunciation for the Shuri dialect (the standardized version) of the Okinawan language.

The Ryukyuan Languages 琉球語 りゅーちゅー　くとぅば Luuchuu Kutuba A short article that argues that Ryukyuan languages are much older than Japanese and that Japanese ins a colonial language in Okinawa. Peace For Okinawa Coalition 琉球和平联盟

Language revitalization and liberation This short article looks at the history of Okinawa, at Ryukyan languages and their decline, and explains that one reason for this decline was the use of the Japanese language as a form of protest during the period of US occupation. Languages on the Move, 2 Jun, 2011.

Okinawan (沖縄口 / ウチナーグチ / Uchinaaguchi) Includes links to online lessons in Uchinaaguchi and dictionaries Omniglot, No date.

Assimilation Practices in Okinawa This piece explains how Japan tried to create a strong sense of Japanese identity in Okinawa from the Meiji Period onwards and how Okinawan languages were suppressed in favour of Japanese. Okinawa Peace Network of Los Angeles, 2005.

Assimilation Policy in Okinawa: Promotion, Resistance, and "Reconstruction" This paper includes a discussion of the promotion of Japanese in Okinawa in the Meiji Period through both top-down and bottom-up assimilation. Japan Policy Research Institute, 1996.

The Ryukyus and the New, But Endangered, Languages of Japan A long article by Fija Bairon, Matthias Brenzinger and Patrick Heinrich "UNESCO recognizes six languages of the Luchu Islands [Ryukyu Islands] of which two are severely endangered, Yaeyama and Yonaguni, and four are classified as definitely endangered, Amami, Kunigami, Uchinaa [Okinawa] and Miyako". This article looks at languages in the Ryukyuan islands, their use, and issues and language rights and whether there is still palace for these languages. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 9 May 2009.

Okinawa dialects are taking on new sounds While the original 900 dialects of the Okinawa islands are gradually fading, songs are one opportunity for regional tongues of the past to be remembered. This article looks at how Ryukyuan languages are changing and becoming less widely used, as well as at folk music in Okinawa. Japan Times, July 18, 2000.

Language Loss and Revitalization in the Ryukyu Islands By Patrick Heinrich. Ryukyuan languages are seriously endangered today and conscious efforts of language revitalization are necessary to ensure their future use. This article is an account of how the Ryukyuan languages came to be endangered and of current efforts for their revitalization. Japan Focus, November 10, 2005.

「沖縄語」漢字表記に変換します　無料ダウンロード「しまとぅくばの日」きょうから This is an article about the company called "kuresuto" which is promoting okinawan languages, developed the contents to write okinawan languages in chinese character to be appeared on the laptop. 琉球新報, 18 Sep 2021

Language standardization

日本の言語政策における統一性と多様性 The asademic paper about language standerization, and the influences from it. ソジエ内田恵美

文化を定量化する試み～“言語の標準化”と活版印刷の関係～ The influences from language standarization for ethnic groups. 佐々木優、早稲大学、15 Apr, 2019

Organisations and People

しまくとぅば活動団体 In this article, you can find some organisations working on to protect Okinawan languages. しまとぅくば普及センター