With the acceleration of globalization, the world is on the verge of losing many unique languages. According to UNESCO, approximately half of the world’s languages will disappear in the next 100 years. In Japan, the language of Okinawa, a former independent kingdom, is listed on the UNESCO endangered languages list. Losing the language is losing an essential part of the unique culture of the prefecture.

As Okinawan speakers are mainly the elderly, the speaking population is decreasing. It is important to pass on the language to the younger generation, but interest among the young was found to be low. The prefecture of Okinawa and the educational institutions were searching for a solution to save a precious part of the culture and identity.

To pass on the language to the younger generation of Okinawa, the smartphone, an everyday tool for young people, was chosen as the device. A project was created, where young people can have fun and proactively participate in the preservation of the language. Through workshops, young people connected with the elderly to learn about the language and together, they uploaded short movie clips expressing the meanings of the Okinawan words. The moving images provided an easy-to-learn way of passing on the words to all generations. By converting the meanings of the words of the historically significant language into movies that can be viewed on the smartphone, a totally new moving dictionary merging history and modern-day technology, was created.

The main target who are the young people of Okinawa, do not understand Okinawan very much even though they have been brought up in the prefecture, and are not very interested in the original indigenous language. According to a survey conducted by Okinawa Prefecture*, those who answered “I understand the language well.” only amounted to 0.4% of those in their teens, and 2.5% of those in their 20s.

So the strategy taken was to utilize the smartphone, which is central to their lives, and provide an experiential entertainment where the Okinawan words are expressed as short movie clips. This raised the engagement of young people, and created a system that they can continue to accumulate proactively.

*Source: Okinawa Prefecture language survey on Shimakutuba, 2018

High school students and elderly native speakers of Okinawan were invited to shoot short movie clips together, describing the meaning of Okinawan words. Children, families, and citizens of the cities/towns of Okinawa proactively participated as well, and several hundred moving definitions of Okinawan words were uploaded onto the website. It generated a movement, to proactively participate in keeping their own unique language alive. With the support of native speakers and linguistic professors, a unique moving dictionary to save an endangered language, was completed.

The Moving Dictionary project changed the perception of young Okinawans toward the indigenous language, giving them a sense of pride toward their traditional culture.

Immediately after the launch, promotional activities were temporarily stopped due to COVID-19. However, even during the pandemic, a new way to preserve language using mobile devices became popular and was shared widely among young people. Special programs were broadcast on NHK (public broadcasting network) TV, as well as Okinawa TV stations and internet news. The campaign successfully raised awareness toward the Okinawan language among the young people of Okinawa.

A survey conducted by the government* showed that 60% of young people were not interested in culture or heritage, but 90% of high school students who participated in this project said that they want to pass on the Okinawan language to future generations.