Eric Wada, back, teaches a class in the Okinawan language at Jikoen Hongwanji Mission in Kalihi. BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM @Caption1:"We had a couple of professors from Okinawa come to ...

“Ukimi soo chii,” said the teacher, Chogi Higa. “Ukimi soo chii,” the students repeated. For student Tokie Koyama, the greeting was a bittersweet echo of her childhood on Okinawa. “It makes me cry,” ...

Counted among the native-born Japanese people in Polk County are people from Japan's Ryukyu islands. One of the southernmost islands in Japan and the largest in the Ryukyu chain, Okinawa is populated ...

In 2009, eight languages spoken on the Japanese archipelago were listed among endangered languages in the UNESCO Atlas of the World, including Ainu, Amami, Hachijō, Kunigami, Miyako, Okinawan, Yaeyama ...

NISHIHARA, Japan — Rising in turn at their wooden desks, the students giggled, squirmed or shuffled as they introduced themselves, some practically in a whisper. “Waa naamee ya — yaibiin . . . (My ...

“One night at a pub I heard the sound of traditional Okinawan folk music, and it was like being hit in the head with a hammer. The impact was like a bolt of lightning! The song told the story of how ...

“One night at a pub I heard the sound of traditional Okinawan folk music, and it was like being hit in the head with a hammer. The impact was like a bolt of lightning! The song told the story of how ...