Greeting Miyakojima Students

Posted on August 26, 2018 by Robert Arakaki

In August 2018, a group of middle school and high school students from Miyakojima Island spent a few days in Hawaii to improve their English and learn about Hawaii and American culture.

East-West Center student Yuicihi Harry Masuda and I drove over to the Hawaii Tokai International College out in Kapolei to greet the students and give them a box of ono Leonard’s malasadas.

Robert Arakaki and Yuichi Harry Masuda with Miyakojima students. We gave them a box of ono Leonard’s malasadas.

The Ryukyu Kingdom (present day Okinawa prefecture) comprised many islands and multiple languages. The Miyakoan language also Sumafutsu is a language distinct from Nihongo (the language of mainland Japan) and Uchinaaguchi (the language of Okinawa island). Where the people of Okinawa island say “nifedebiru” for “thank you,” the people of Miyakojima say “tandigatandi.” Since coming under Japanese administration, the indigenous language of Miyakojima has been slowly dying out. Today most people in Miyakojima below the age of 60 do not speak Sumafutsu.

Originally from mainland Japan, Harry Masuda moved to Okinawa and learned about Okinawa’s distinctive culture and history. When he attempted to speak to the Miyakojima students in their mother tongue, they waved their hands in embarrassment saying that they spoke Japanese. This cultural and linguistic assimilation presents a serious challenge to the future of Uchinanchu identity in the Uchinanchu/Shimanchu homeland as well among the worldwide Uchinanchu diaspora.

Note: “Uchinanchu” means “people of Uchina or Okinawa Island.” “Shimanchu” means “island people” implying those who belong to the Ryukyus but not necessarily Okinawa Island.

See “Okinawa’s Endangered Languages” also published on the WUB Hawaii website.

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Gov. Takeshi Onaga 1950-2018

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Robert Arakaki

Gov. Onaga at 20th WUB Network Conference 2016 Credit: WUB Hawaii

Takeshi Onaga, the governor of Okinawa, passed away on 8 August 2018 from complications of pancreatic cancer.

He was born in 1950 in Naha into a political family. His father, Josei, was mayor of Naha at the time of his birth. Although his mother discouraged him from following in his father’s footsteps, Onaga decided, while in elementary school, that he wanted to become a politician. When he studied at Hosei University in Tokyo, Onaga needed a passport from American-occupied Okinawa to enter mainland Japan.

Onaga was a rare conservative politician who stood up to the leaders of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. In 2014, he ran for the governorship on a platform that opposed the relocation of the Futenma Air Base to Henoko in northern Okinawa and called for the ending of American occupation of Okinawa. He won the governorship and in October 2015 Onaga revoked the land reclamation permit needed for construction in Henoko.

On 11 August 2018, 70,000 people attended a rally in Okinawa in honor of Governor Onaga’s memory and his struggle against the relocation of Futenma Air Station to Henoko in northern Okinawa.

Onaga enjoyed close ties with Hawaii and was a strong supporter of WUB Network. In a statement read at WUB Network’s 21st Conference, Governor Onaga expressed that “WUB’s engagement in business throughout the world holds immense significance in Okinawa.” (source) Governor Onaga was named Honorary Chair of the 20th WUB Network Conference held during the 2016 Taikai.

During the 2016 Taikai, Governor Onaga joined Hawaii’s Governor David Ige and WUB Network President Steve Kishaba Sombrero.