Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information Kagoshima Prefecture--The dominance of standard Japanese in colloquial speech across the archipelago has obvious advantages But it comes at the risk of killing off rare dialects spoken on remote islands This explains an eleventh-hour effort to preserve dialects that are unintelligible to the rest of the population Television is clearly a primary culprit as islanders have tended over the years to “correct” their way of speaking so their offspring wouldn’t face discrimination when they went job hunting or pursued higher education on the mainland Eight areas of Japan were included in the most recent “red list” of endangered languages and dialects Okinoerabujima island in Kagoshima Prefecture is one of the target areas and concerted efforts are now under way to revive the local dialect Okinoerabujima became part of Japan’s Satsuma feudal domain after it belonged to the independent Ryukyu Kingdom That history created a distinct diversity to the island’s culture UNESCO released a list in 2009 of the world’s endangered languages Inscribed on the red list were eight local languages of Japan including the “Kunigami” language spoken in an area including Okinoerabujima “There are ways to revive a local language,” said Masahiro Yamada an associate professor with the Tokyo-based National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL) leads a project titled “Research on the Conservation of Endangered Languages.” The NINJAL approach being practiced for the first time on Okinoerabujima involves a method called Master-Apprentice devised in the United States in the 2000s The Master-Apprentice program relies on intensive one-on-one dialogue between a “master,” who speaks a local language at risk of dying out The idea is to develop new speakers of the language The method has worked well with Native American dialects NINJAL officials have held “dialect salon” sessions on Okinoerabujima once a month After explaining how the Master-Apprentice program works NINJAL officials said 25 islanders signed up to stop their dialect from dying out Standard Japanese has long been the norm in speech on Okinoerabujima in school education and most households some islanders with a burning urge to pass on their dialectal tradition have been busy working on their own to keep the island’s language alive who serves on Wadomari’s municipal board of education making picture cards to go with local folklore told in the dialect which she was determined to pass on to children through reading sessions and other events “I always harbored a sense of alarm that the dialect could vanish soon,” Tanaka said it’s like you are forcing your activities on others I think there are more chances of success if you incorporate the dialect in an enjoyable way so people will take interest in it.” became active after she took part in the dialect salon She set up a circle in her neighborhood last year and began collecting materials toward the goal of creating a dictionary for the dialect of the Tamina district which is different from those of other districts Tanabe’s group asked two women from the neighborhood 1,200 words have been preserved for posterity All the signs point to a future revival of the dialect NINJAL began enlisting the help of three-generation families on Okinoerabujima to get them to engage in fun activities that involve the use of the dialect during the annual summer break but she can now converse in it with her mother also used to have difficulty even with listening comprehension But they now understand 70-80 percent of what is being said in the dialect and speak it better members of the Maeda family continued learning from Chizuko and using the dialect when they talked among themselves at home or chatted on the Line free messaging app they ended up practicing the Master-Apprentice program without even being aware of it “I don’t know how I should describe this sense of satisfaction,” said Yurika of her newly acquired ability to converse in the dialect The project to revive the Okinoerabujima dialect has only just got under way “The local community has already embraced the idea,” the linguist said “The first local language to be revived will likely be either the Ainu language (in Hokkaido) or the dialect here.” Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission Plans are underway for a new microgrid that will combine renewable generation and energy storage batteries to supply tiny Okinoerabu Island in the southern part of Japan The microgrid will use Kyocera’s energy management system to control solar Designed to promote local economic development and reduce carbon emissions the microgrid will also maintain power supplies even during natural disasters such as the typhoons which regularly batter the island and cause frequent power outages Kyocera has signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the towns of China-cho and Wadomari-cho located on the island in Kagoshima Prefecture The 36 square mile island is just north of Okinawa and has a population of only around 12,000 people Now available, a newly released vision paper by Think Microgrid, “Microgrids: An Immediate Climate Solution“ Detailed plans for the project are due to be completed by the end of March 2022 and construction is expected to begin after April that year China-cho and Wadomari-cho currently rely on diesel generators for power generation the towns plan to use renewable energy as their primary power source The system is expected to supply power throughout Okinoerabu Island but won’t require any new power lines the existing power distribution network will be used under license A local power company will also be set up on the island to maintain the microgrid facilities Trade and Industry selected the project for a subsidy promoting community cooperation through the use of renewable energy with the microgrid also improving reliability promoting economic development and reducing consumer power costs Learn more about the renewable microgrids being built worldwide. 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