What's Up With Okinawan Names? - A Language History
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- Опубликовано: 10 авг 2020
- Why are Okinawan names difficult for even mainland Japanese speakers? How the languages of the Ryukyu kingdom survived - despite attempts to eradicate them.
Video by Noah Oskow
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Original article: unseenjapan.com/okinawan-name...
Follow Noah on Twitter: / noahoskow
Some of the videos featured here include:
Ryukyu Language Documentary: ～みろく世へぬ思い立ち～ Miruku yu yhe nu Umuitachi
• Ryukyu Language Docume...
Okinawa Naha Kokusai Dori Street Part 1 | Walking in Japan 4K
• 🇯🇵 Okinawa Naha Kokus...
Byron Fija on Ryukyuan Languages in Uchinaaguchi
• Byron Fija on Ryukyuan...
State suppression of native languages globally is part of why it is so frustrating that there exists a narrative that loss of indigenous languages is inevitable. It really ignores the many ways it was or in some cases still is manufactured by people and not something that "just happens".
Indeed. In the case of Okinawa these languages were thriving well into the 20th century despite the often draconian state attempts to suppress them. With proper grassroots efforts (like we're seeing in Okinawa right now) and support from above and respect for the value of the languages, there's less reason for them to "naturally" disappear.
Agreed. Unfortunately with Japan, these languages aren't even viewed as "languages" - they're relegated to being called "dialects." Thankfully there is at least some support from local Okinawan and mainland governments for the celebration of these "dialects," since each island group and language has its own celebratory day enshrined in the local calendar, and signage in the respective languages are used throughout the islands.
As a kurdish person, I couldn't agree more.
The history in this is exactly why I don't like saying I'm part Japanese; I'd rather explain I'm part Okinawan.
Exactly.
Part Uchinaanchu, we're different :)
incorrect you are Ryukyuan Okinawan is the name given to you by your colonizers
@@Numero103 ?
@numero103 true
Same
One thing I know, in Sao Paulo specifically, there's the most large community of Okinawa dialet speakers (uchinaaguchi)
Yeah! Okinawans tend to make up an outsized percentage of immigrant communities from Japan. Hawaii is another region with a major Japanese population - although many would identify as being of Okinawan descent before identifying as Japanese.
@@noahoskow4551 many people from Okinawa leave the island after war because food and supplies were sparse. large communities live in São Paulo, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Hawaii Philippines and Perú. Okinawan dialect by the way only the elders have some knowledge, it fading away.
沖縄口 (Uchinaaguchi) is not a dialect.It's distinct language but still related to Japonic family.
free okinawa
It’s sad that I’m 100% uchinanchu, born and raised in Okinawa, but I can’t speak any Ryukyuan. Even my mother says she can’t speak it (I think she can understand quite a lot though).
I very much get that - It's a sad reality of being surrounded by a more dominant language and hard-to-resist assimilation. It is still possible to reclaim your language, though! I'm a Jewish American and was also pretty disappointed in how bad my Hebrew was, but I spent a year using a lot of my free time to focus on it and managed to give myself a really solid footing in the language. Might be worth doing something similar with your Ryukyuan language if delving into your heritage is something you're after!
As a kurdish person, we are sadly very familiar with this situation. I highly encourage you to learn your mother tongue if you have the opportunity and pass it on to your children.
Only old people can speak It.
here in brazil we still speak some words in okinawan
I am born in USA, I dont know my parents I was raised by my maternal great grandmother who was white, Armenia/Irish. My dad however is Okinawan, and I met my grand mother one time.. She almost immediately corrected everyone by saying we are not Japanese, we are Okinawan. I was young and didn't understand but now that I am older I am very sad about the Ryukyu Kingdom, and how nobody hardly even knows about the atrocities and lost culture.
I am obviously mixed but I feel an obligation to represent and inform people that Okinawan is NOT Japan We are different from ethnic, to culture, language. It was mostly all destroyed and wiped from existence. Nobody even talks about it. I will always identify myself as Okinawan and not Japanese, people never thought I looked Japanese, they think I was half Mexican lol.
I wish I knew my parents and learned about my culture, but at least there are efforts being made to preserve it. My next tattoo will be the 3 tomoe spiral symbol on the Ryukyu Kingdom flag.
Hello and Mensore, everyone! Hope you enjoy this little dive into what makes Okinawan names and language so unique. I learned a lot about the subject myself while carrying out my research for this video - it's definitely a subject that's worthy of learning about. Very excited to return to Okinawa someday (when travel is safe again) and to deepen my understanding of the regions of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.
As usual, I've prepared English subtitles for those to prefer to watch with them - switch them on via the CC option if you'd like! And let me know what you thought of this video, or what topics you'd like me and Unseen Japan to cover next!
Thank you so much for taking the time to research and share about Okinawa! I hope you will consider doing more in the future.
Thank you! Definitely more to come.
Japanese linguistics is a trip. Japanese is almost a language isolate (no known related languages, e.g. Korean or Basque) except for the Ryukyuan languages. So me, coming from a background of studying Western languages like Latin and Middle Eastern ones like Arabic, I can always consult some etymological resource to see where a word came from and how it relates to words in related tongues. But Japanese? Other than the huge pile of Chinese loans, etymological origins for words in Japanese stops with Old Japanese. The Ryukyuan languages have always fascinated me because, in theory, they could provide a glimpse at an older stage of Japonic, but I sadly don't understand enough about Japanese to get any insight from it myself.
Anyway, this connects with the larger mystery of where the Japanese people came from in the first place, because they just sorta pop up in the archaeological record a couple thousand years ago along with the arrival of rice agriculture in the archipelago. The expert consensus is that they're originally from Korea which might mean they're related to the modern Korean people, and indeed there appear to be some very old cognate words between Korean and Japanese and the presence of a few old kingdoms in the Korean Peninsula line up with the timing, but mainstream linguists seem to be in agreement that the Korean language and the Japanese language aren't related! Fascinating stuff. I hope some new clues in the mystery emerge some day because I'm very curious.
Indeed! Much of this is what makes the language so interesting. It's also something that makes me happy I started studying the language when I was actually quite young (started self-study in the last years of elementary school, ha), and also why I think watching a lot of Japanese media is actually really helpful - besides all the katakana loan words, there's so little to tie Japanese to any language a European language native speaker would be able to latch on to. Getting a naturalistic grip on how some words and phrases are used via TV and other media can help plant that seed of recognition.
The entire connection between the Ryukyuan languages, Japanese, and proto-Japanese/proto-Ryukyuan is fascinating, and learning more about that was one of the most fun parts of the research that went into this video. Like you, I was really excited to see the potential connections to Japanese linguistic origins - yet so much remains a mystery. Just makes it more fun to learn about and speculate on, though.
Thanks for watching and for your insightful commentary!
I'm from Hawaii where a lot of Japanese locals have Okinawan heritage. I can now definitely notice the Okinawan lineage in their surnames now. Before, the only distinction we have, jokingly, is that Okinawans have more body hair than Japanese. Haha.
The body hair thing tends to be true. I'm Okinawan myself and I'd say I'm pretty hairy, especially by Asian standards.
I dated an Hawaiian years ago who told me this.. I found it funny. My mother is Okinawan. I can say she is a bit hairy. LOL.
Both Hawaiʻi and Luuchuu share a history of colonisation and oppression of the indigenous culture and language.
This is one of the very best videos I have ever seen on RUclips. Thank you so much for this!
This is great! It's well-researched, succinctly written, and has taught me a lot I didn't know about the Ryukyuans!
I haven't browsed your other videos yet, but have you done any other Okinawa or Ainu content? I'd love to learn more :)
Very happy you enjoyed it! Noah has another video on the channel specifically about the Ainu and the colonization of Hokkaido - you could check that one out! Our website also has a good few other articles covering both the Ainu and Ryukyuans - you can search for either term on the website and they'll pop up.
I was born in Naha, Okinawa in 1964, but never learned much about my Okinawan heritage since I wanted to be as American as I could be.
My mother, who recently passed away, was our only link to our Okinawan relatives. She would speak with them on the holidays, and most recently on Zoom, and spoke the Okinawan dialect as well as Japanese and English. Our surname was Teruya, and my mother's family still lives here.
This video explains more than any other source I have ever seen.
Thank you!!
thank you for this video ! As a person with an Okinawan Name I got a little emotional near the end of the video. It feels great to know the origins of your name- Almost feels like I found a home that was missing from me
I like that you put asadoyayunta as one of the songs in the video its so okinawan
Fascinating. Thanks for researching and expounding on a somewhat esoteric subject that neither the Japanese populace nor westerners really care to know about. It was interesting to hear about the cycle of suppression of surnames and how they evolved; seeing the Kanji helped tremendously. This video is testament to your knowledge of the confluence of things about Ryukyu, Japan, China, Kanji, and the historical backdrop for these developments. Great work!
I'm from Okinawa and lived there for a bit. I thought Orion beer was like the Budweiser of Japan and didn't realize how wrong I was until I had already left Okinawa and talked to a mainland Japanese person in the USA.
Such a wonderful and informative video. RUclips at its best. Well done, sir. And special thanks for including the links in the description.
I'd argue that you don't need to venture outside of Okinawa Honto to hear people speaking a dialect of their village or district within the village. Perhaps it's more noticeable on the outer islands but my aunt and uncle primarily speak in the "dialect" of our district with each other, their friends, and children and speak in Japanese only if they need to talk with someone who doesn't understand what they're saying.
Otherwise, well researched video and thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this… being Okinawan my self gave me more insight
Really interesting and insightful, thank you for the history lesson
Good video!
it's sad that more diaspora Loochooans(Ryukyuans) are more aware of this topic than the locals in Loochoos are. Assimilation sucks...
Great presentation. Learned a lot.
A very informative video on my wife's family history. Thank you!
Very interesting video! I was hoping to see my friend's surname - shimabukuro. I heard this surname in a video about the horrors of the okinawan battle in WWII. There was a girl made nurse who had this surname.
Interesting! Shimabukuro (島袋) is indeed a common and recognizable Okinawan name, and probably best known abroad for famed ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. Would have been a good name to mention.
It is said that Eiso built the temple close to his castle called the Urasoe Castle, not the Shuri castle
Played Yakuza 3, got interested in Okinawa, here I am
Nice! Yakuza 3 is a pretty great introduction to Okinawa, I think - lets you really get a feel for downtown Naha and various Okinawan cultural staples, like the Habu pit viper, Shiisa, the sanshin, etc.
In the ancient time they were closer tided to the Chinese empires.
They closer with japan too
Descended from 宮城.
Ancestors from hamahiga, higa village.
Ippee Nifee Deebiru for this video.
Guburii sabitan!
This is an excellent channel
Ryukyuan culture seems fascinating, thanks for sharing bits of it!
This is somewhat unrelated, but what is the song you put at the end of the video? Was that based on an Okinawan folk song? The melody, it consistently resembles the pentatonic scale of Javanese (with a 'v') music! Good now I'm interested in Ryukyuan music as well.
It's Shima Uta sung by Natsukawa Rimi
@@RKMDJrYoshinori Cool, thanks!
6:25 I see this talk about a "myth of racial and linguistic unity" touted a lot in sources that are arguing against it, but it seems to show up a lot less in scholarly sources about Japanese history, sources written in Japanese, and actual pre-war materials. Lafcadio Hearn, for instance, readily acknowledged (in his "Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation"), to use his words, "that the race, like all good races, is a mixed one", and that the mainstream Japanese culture and society of his time was only "tolerably uniform".
Interesting - Appreciate any commentary including insight related to Lafcadio!
The original intonation is lost... This guy grew up speaking modern Japanese and his mannerisms and intonation can't hide it.
Sadly, the original okinawan may be lost now
This video was so cool! Love learning about indigenous languages.
My brother is named Ryuki after the Ryukyu islands.😊
Thank you so much for this video. When I visit Okinawa, I'm going to do it from a lens of higher respect. And I really appreciate this culture
Hope Ryukyu does not lost its language and culture.
Its so funny cuz if u think of it, the experience of Okinawans during the forced assimilation during the meiji period, somehow echoes the current Uyghyr assimilation happening in China.
We are really living in a different world now, where we can connect and condemn ill actions. I hope our Uyghyr brothers stay safe and keep the culture alive. Ryukyuans were able to retain and still thriving to exist today depite of being alone in their fight during 19th cwntury. The world is with you🥰😘
Well that’s kinda funny(ridiculous) because both Uyghur language and Chinese are taught in schools in Xinjiang. In fact their main language is still Uyghur language.
They don’t even have to take Chinese in their college entrance exam btw
Oh and I forgot. Frankly speaking, the one who is standing alone is still Ryukyuans. Uyghur is being backed by China’s policy to benefit racial minorities, While Japan is still trying to erase their identity. Despite people calling for justice on the internet, they can’t really change a thing lol.
@@orz.4805 You seem to somehow be forgetting the millions in concentration camps, the surveillance state, and laws outlawing Uyghur culture practices. Wonder why that is?
@@NounOzlos You seem to be brainwashed by propaganda
Thank's for this informative video! Are there 5 or 6 ryukuan languages recognized?
Thanks! This video focuses on the five most distinct languages, but there are those who say there's actually six distinct languages - this would include the Kunigami dialects in northern Okinawa as a separate language. Of course, the reality it that there's a dialectal continuum across the whole island chain, which makes it a bit difficult to rightly say exactly where one dialect begins and a language ends. Interesting stuff.
Unseen Japan I would consider Yanbaru Kutuba as it's separate language. My family's village is right at that border but one of our districts is not mutually intelligible with the other four (even with the influence of each districts own special way of speaking). That's just my personal opinion, though.
@@tori2557 Interesting! That's part of what makes the Ryukyuan languages so fascinating - there's so many local dialects that variations that could easily be argued to be their own separate languages.
Unseen Japan Agreed. It was nice being able to talk with friends with family from Kin and Nago about the variations in their districts and how it differentiates.
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this interesting video! Do you know if the surname "Azuma" is Okinawan?
Thank you 🙏
Thank you for watching!
I was stationed in Okinawa over 10 years ago… to this day the most beautiful culture & people I have ever physically experienced.
My 17 year old father fought in the battle of Okinawa … i’m glad to see the Okinawans voice being brought to the surfaces.
Their history is so rich and deep - thank you for your research 🔬
Ryukyu could become the pearl of Asia with peace and happiness. It is better to get rid of the governance of Japan and the forcebly occupation by the American troops.
They don't have resources to become independent for they own
I am descendent of okinawans from Brazil. My surname is Fukuhara (普久原).
Excellent documentary. What is the name of the song played in 16:30?
Many thanks! Really glad you enjoyed it.
Happy you liked the video! The song is "Miyasan, Miyasan" (宮さん宮さん), a humorous military song from the period of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. It's often called Japan's first military song.
@@noahoskow4551 Thanks!
@@Dovid2000 Happy to help!
Love my brother Rob Kajiwara & his plight !❤❤❤❤❤ LUCHOO
When my mother was in assisted living there was one other Asian lady. The mainland Japanese woman would have nothing to do with my mom because as an Okinawan she was beneath her. My mom was wounded during the war and would tell us how badly the Japanese treated the Okinawans.
Can I have the name of the last song used? ありがとう
Sure! The song is Natsukawa Rimi's take on The Boom's classic ode to Okinawa, Shima Uta.
Whatever music at 9:41?
18:56 Also Nakandakari 仲村渠
Greetings from philippines! I have been to Okinawa only once but making it there has shown me how unique and great the people in okinawa really are! And watching this video makes me love them even more! I hope to one day make it back to okinawa in the future and stay longer because I miss all the special moments and food there! And i also miss the friends i made there!
Some familiar names in this video, I love my heritage and wish to return one day but I also love America lol.
The pronunciation of Loochoo surnames follow the Chinese phonetics instead of Japanese kanji readings, that's why they are not mutually intelligible with Japanese. Historically, every Uchinanchu (Loochooan, Okinawan for the Japanese people) person had two names: one native name and one Chinese name complete with a Chinese surname and a Chinese given name. The Loochoo Kingdom was not annexed to Japan until 1876. Please respect the locals' names for their ethnicity, cultural heritage, and topographic locations.
It's not called Loochooan,it's called Uchinaguchi,and it's a language of Japonic family derived of the proto Japanese. The L letter don't even exist on Uchinaguchi/Okinawan language.
My family is from Tonaki- son(jima) off the main island, Okinawa. We speak Hogan(Uchinaguchi)whenever we don't want others to understand what we are talking about in public 😂 Fija(Higa) Byron speaks Shuri dialect(universal?)
Who is the singer?
Can you tell me please the title of the BGM? It sounds like Javanese song to me.
Sure - can you give us a timestamp so we can see which song you're referring to? Thanks!
@@UnseenJapan 6:48 and 24:40 please.
@@personanongrata7862 The first song is the traditional Okinawan folk dance song called 久高万寿主 (Kudaka Manju syu) - I wouldn't be surprised if there are some musical connection with further south in Java via sea routes and trade exchange. The second song is Natsukawa Rimi's cover of The Boom's classic ode to Okinawa, Shima Uta. The song is originally from 1992, and the band who created it are all from mainland Japan, but thanks to its use of traditional Okinawan sounds and tragic lyrics it's become one of the songs most widely associated with Okinawa.
Are there any lists of Okinawan first names??
They all use Japanese names.
It’s fascinating! Ryukyu language sounds like Japanese mixed with Chinese and a little esperanto to my blind ears😮
Ryukyu 流球 the pronunciation is very close to fujian dialect 球in fujian dialect is pronounced as kyu too.
Fujian has a lot of dialects haha, they say that you get a different dialect every mountain you climb and every river you cross. You can group the dialects of Fujian into Southern Min, Nothern Min, as well as Putian-ese. None of them are mutually intelligible and that's still a vague generalisation. Even within Southern Min (I speak the Singaporean Variant albeit poorly), there are many differences that may stun speakers
also, the dialects in Fujian are actually languages. They are unintelligible with Beijing Mandarin
@@goldkwi you are correct but the government of China does want the people to see them as languages just as dialects
Gorgerous place! Namie Amuro birthplace,lol!
It seems the only exit is independence
The Ryukyuan People are distinct~ They should be an independent Nation with strong ties to Japan and other Nations that will respect their distinct and unique culture~
I don't think they would survive as an independent nation and also nowadays more and more Okinawans see themselves as Japanese.
I absolutely agree, but I want this for all distinct nations of all countries
The evidence which supports the existence of King Eiso is very little. Why do you think he was glad to have Zenkan for the prosperity of the Ryukyu? The relationship with China started from the Satto dynasty, which was after the Eiso dynasty. We do not really know what people in Okinawa Island thought about China and Japan at the Eiso time
Daito Islands were not a part of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Their languages are also not in the Ryukyuan languages
Sorry for Okinawa. And very greatful this didn’t happens to Korea. If Japan would not have lost the war. We would be called different. And our language would be Japanese now.
Interesting. I Never knew or thought that there is a Dialect in Japan, since the country itself is so homogenous.
Comment for the algorithm.
My surname would be Shimoji if my parents had gotten married. Instead I was raised by my maternal great grandmother who was Armenian/Irish.
It's similar to in Hawaii and other places the language was piratically banned and culture seen as sinful (or barbaric) in North Africa we see Arab dominated culture subjugate Amazigh culture and people.
although if i'm being optimistic i noticed a trend (i'm hoping it's not empty virtue signaling) where said governments of places like Australia USA Canada and other places are starting to fund cultural revivals and give them scholar ships so the communities can thrive and join in the bigger culture.
The story of South America is different because most people are the Natives so the culture you see has native influence.. not to say the Spanish and Portugese were perfect.. no colonialism is but in terms of preserving culture and idendity it was preferable to be a native.. {(preferable not ideal)
i think you did a great job as always to see the idendity of Okinawans and how they feel in a greater society and their historic roots
Akisamyo!
Okinawa names or rather Ryukyu names are more like Chinese names than Japanese names.
As a Singaporean Chinese, I'm very familiar with our Chinese surnames. No, Okinawan surnames aren't anywhere close to Chinese surnames. Many special Okinawan surnames are made up of 2-4 kanji. Chinese surnames tend to be made up of just 1 character. Less than 1% of Chinese surnames have 2 characters. And virtually zero with 3 or more characters. Meanwhile, Korean Surnames are exactly the same or highly overlap Chinese Surnames
I recognise Okinawan surnames after watching lots of Japanese media. But if I show an Okinawan surname like 上原 or 座喜味 or 喜屋武 to my family, they would think it's Japanese. Because they don't even realise Okinawa was an independent nation with its unique culture.
I wouldn't call Kanji, hanzi for alfabet. Hiragana, katakana (Furigana) can be called alphabet
Huh, did I ever call them an alphabet? My script doesn't show that word - I'd usually refer to them as "characters."
@@noahoskow4551 yeah there 2as a point you did.
I did enjoy the episode though. I'll relisten and let you know where
@@noahoskow4551 I was just listening and reacted to a part. Not sure where it was. I'll find it. Sorry for that. Enjoyed the episode but reacted to that specific thing.
@@Xaiando No worries! Let me know if you find it - you'd be correct in that they really shouldn't be called an alphabet.
@@noahoskow4551 12:06
"Kanji is still one of the three alphabets..."
China is Middle Kingdom. Ryukyu is lost kingdom?
They ancestors were malays either Malaysia or Indonesia. It is evidenced in their DNA test.
5:19 polygonal blockwork..
Megalith Hunters RISE
Japan even claimed that Korean language was Japanese dialect during the time when it annexed Korea. This was probably politically motivated. The similarities of Japanese and Korean is as similar as Okinawan is to Japanese.
Indeed - there was an overall attempt to justify the annexation of Korea by portraying the Koreans as Japan's "little brother," a less-evolved group of cousins whose stewardship rightly fell to Japan. Of course, the Korean language is an isolate, and seemingly not closely related to Japanese - if at all. The difference with the Okinawan languages are that they are, in fact, Japonic - unlike Japanese and Korean, Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages do demonstrably come from the same place. This isn't an excuse for colonization, though.
"Japan even claimed that Korean language was Japanese dialect during the time when it annexed Korea." Could you please tell me the source?
Many linguistic believe that Peninsular Japonic used to be spoken in Korea, more exactly the kingdoms of Baekje, Silla, Gaya confederacy and Tamna but was eventually replaced by Chinese and Korean, it make sense considering Yayoi people come from Korea peninsula and there is some evidences. Some Japanese nationalist used the mythological Empress Jingu who supposedly invaded Korea and funded a Japanese state or colony as a justification for their annexation of Korea.
But the Uchinaguchi/Okinawan language is in fact a Japonic language derived from Proto Japanese. That's the difference,it's not really a comparable situation at all.
if all of my peoples continent can have many tribes and dialects, than why cant japan???? surely there is indigenous peoples there as well!
Literally every place has different dialects
The Ryukyuan language sounds alot like Korean
Not really. It's a language derived from proto Japanese. I think Korean people can be mad with the comparision,it's better to avoid.
I agree it sounds like Korean. What’s wrong with giving an opinion. All three are close geographically.
It’s not kaneshiro it’s kinjo 😅
原来金城武是琉球人
not even Japanese its an independent country up till the 70s hope they achieve independence!😡😡😡
Free Okinawa! Okinawa is the only colony that was never freed from Japan after world war 2. Okinawans still suffer from oppression from the Japanese government
I'm certainly interested in the independence movement - I wonder what polling shows regarding Okinawan perspectives on it. I know feelings of Okinawan identity are on the rise, but I wonder if that corresponds to a desire to break away.
If Japan were to lose control of the Ryukyus, they would certainly fall under the influence of China. Chinese nationalists already make some claims to the Ryukyus. Is that really preferable? Ryukyuans are better off united with their linguistic kin in Japan, albeit more autonomy (like Wales in the UK for example) might be a good compromise.
@@NounOzlos i went to Okinawa in 2011 or so, and from what I saw and heard, there was very little support for it. (Alot of youth only had a vague idea that there was some independence movement) Things may have changed with the controversial henoko base building though, which over 70% of residents are against
I don't think Okinawa would survive being independent and nowadays most Okinawans indentify as Japanese,so...