#Okinawans

[indizombie]

A third of Japanese people are over 60, making Japan home to the oldest population in the world, after tiny Monaco. It is recording fewer births than ever before. By 2050, it could lose a fifth of its current population. Yet its hostility to immigration has not wavered. Only about 3% of Japan's population is foreign-born, compared to 15% in the UK. In Europe and America, right-wing movements point to it as a shining example of racial purity and social harmony. But Japan is not as ethnically pure as those admirers might think. There are the Ainu of Hokkaido, Okinawans in the south, half a million ethnic Koreans, and close to a million Chinese. Then there are Japanese children with one foreign parent, which include my own three. These bi-cultural kids are known as "hafu" or halves - a pejorative term that's normal here. They include celebrities and sports icons, such as tennis star Naomi Osaka. Popular culture idolises them as "more beautiful and talented". But it's one thing to be idolised and quite another to be accepted.

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, ‘Japan was the future but it's stuck in the past’, BBC

[transsexualhedgehog]

shimanchu (indigenous okinawan) miku for the miku worldwide thing‼️

she has hajichi (cultural tattooing practice), and wears usinaasugai/ushinchi/ryusou dress with traditional textile bingata and kasuri patterns and a hanagasa hat

[cambriancutie]

[softsoundingsea]

Learning Japanese Kanji in Okinawa is fun because sometimes I can learn the Kunyomi and Onyomi and be alright but then there are additional readings I need to memorize because of Uchinaaguchi.

Oftentimes, it's also interesting to hear about how names are mispronounced in Japan because Japanese people don't know how to read the Ryukyuan-Japanese reading of Ryukyuan names.

Though I do sometimes wish that we went by the actual Ryukyuan way to say our last names over the Onyomi readings in Japanese.

For example of Uchinaaguchi last names: Fija instead of Higa, Tamagusuku instead of Tamashiro, Naagusuku instead of Miyagi, Ufugusuku instead of Oshiro, Wiibaru instead of Uehara.

[miyagi-hokarate]

William Zabka about Pat Morita's idea for a fourth Karate Kid in More than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story (2021)

[yazzydream]

Mensore!

[chernobog13]

Good boi!

[gjdraws]

MERMAY IN THE NICK OF TIME!

Daniel san does not pay attention and steps on things that poke and sting, Chozen does not approve.

[dfwbwfbbwfbwf]

Will the Real Crablor Please Stand Up

I know I had a poll about this already, but I didn't know about this baby.

Behold! The Okinawan blueberry hermit crab!

This is Hobo Crablor.

[old-powwow-days]

Elk Necklace collaboration between Keri Ataumbi & Jamie Okuma

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Month wrap-up

Korean: 383 words this month, the biggest amount this year! This was my main focus this month. Picks of my favorite words from this month:

교대 交代 - taking turns 당청되다 當籤- - to win the lottery 마땅히 - properly 석화 石花 - oyster 일당백 一當百 - equal to 100 warriors 출하 出荷 - shipment

Japanese: only 57 words this time! I feel like I've studied more though. I've gotten better at listening! Favorite words:

いれい 慰霊 - consoling the dead しけ 時化 - stormy weather at sea でんち 電池 - battery よてい 予定 - plans

Mandarin and Cantonese: I haven't focused on these much this month. However I've been listening to both languages a bunch.

Mongolian: I haven't logged the words I know because I'm learning it with a different approach. But I've been studying it a lot and am learning a bunch of new words!

Toki Pona: I can now understand written text 99% of the time. I should practice writing next.

Okinawan: I've learn the Okinawan version of every Japanese word I've studied this month. I'm progressing steadily.

Other languages: I've been learning random words from other languages too. Notably Hungarian (Which I haven't learned at all in the past). Maybe I should start studying it regularly!

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[morethansalad]

Vegan Chinsuko (Okinawan Shortbread Cookies) ちんすこう

[shoku-and-awe]

Half-size souki soba with rafute at an Okinawan place I've always wanted to try! I'd have gone earlier if I’d known they offered half-size portions. The noodles were doughy and delicious, and the rafute fatty pork was unbelievable. Overall it was a bit heavy—as soon as I saw the size of the pork, I ordered a salad to soak it up. No regrets at all though. If you think you don't like fatty pork, this might change your mind.

[softsoundingsea]

ブクブク茶 Bukubuku-cha

Bukubuku tea is a a type of furicha, a traditional Ryukyuan (Okinawan) tea. The tea was almost forced into extinction during-after the Battle of Okinawa. There were revival efforts in the 1950's and it was officially restored in the 1980's. The roots and origin of this tea are assumed to have begun around 1587 during the Ryukyu Kingdom.

My friend and I went to the Namin Matsuri at 波上宮 (Naminoue in JP/Nanmin meaning "Above the Waves" in Uchinaaguchi) and the Bukubuku Tea Preservation Society was there offering tea with chinsuko.

The photo on the left showcases the ingredients used 無洗米（むせんまい Musenmai）、炒り米（いりごめ Irigome）、お赤飯（おせきはん Osekihan）、じーまみ (Jiimami)、さんぴん茶 (Sanpin-cha).

[d-joana-a-shippadora]

Sachiko Kurogawa || Major International Academy Book Series || @majorinternationalacademy

"Agora que eu estou parando para pensar, acho que não cheguei a me apresentar, não é mesmo? [...] Sachiko Kurogawa, yutashiku!"

"Come to think of it, I don't think I introduced myself, right? [...] Sachiko Kurogawa, yutashiku!"