Linguapax Asia’s members involved in the publication of four Ryukyuan folklore multilingual picture books

Linguapax

A collaboration between island storytellers, artists, researchers, and a language teacher has borne fruit. Three picture books have just been published, and one more is coming in March. Originally, the project team of the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL) documenting the endangered Ryukyuan languages started to collect folklore as part of their research. Eventually, the researchers, together with an artist, decided to use their research to help revitalise the language of each island. The budget was made possible through crowdfunding in 2019, and Hituzi Syobo Publishing agreed to publish the four picture books. Dr Fujita-Round joined the project in 2020. As a Ryukyuan language researcher, she translated the old folk tales from Japanese into English, and then Mr Round, an ICU High School English teacher, polished the English, so that islanders can learn the English language in the classroom and at home. Three of the picture books are presented in three languages: Ryukyuan, Japanese, and English; The True Value of a Sho of Salt is presented in four languages: two local Ryukyuan vernaculars, Japanese, and English.

The books are:

The Tale of the Beautiful Girl, Kannamaru Kuuruku (Tarama Island)
Storyteller: Masako Nohara
Picture/Book design: Fumi Yamamoto
Hearing/Transcribing/Japanese translation/Annotation: Kayoko Shimoji
English translation: Sachiyo Fujita-Round and Rick Round

A Tale of the Star-shaped Sand (Taketomi Island)
Storyteller: Sumi Uchimori
Picture/Book design: Fumi Yamamoto
Hearing/Transcribing/Japanese translation/Annotation: Natsuko Nakagawa
English translation: Sachiyo Fujita-Round and Rick Round

The True Value of a Sho of Salt (Okinoerabu Island)
Storytellers: Yukie Matsumura and Mihoko Tanaka
Picture/Book design: Fumi Yamamoto
Hearing/Transcribing/Japanese translation/Annotation: Akiko Yokoyama
English translation: Sachiyo Fujita-Round and Rick Round
Folklore annotation: Hatsue Nakawaki
Folklore supervision: Mitsunobu Sakida

Dirabudi the Fisherman (Yonaguni Island)
Rewriting old folklore: Etsuko Yonaha
Picture/Book design: Fumi Yamamoto
Hearing/Transcribing/Japanese translation/Annotation: Masahiro Yamada
English translation: Sachiyo Fujita-Round and Rick Round

They are available on Amazon and at bookstores in Japan.

Photography: Hituzi Syobo Publishing

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