INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY is celebrated on the 21st of February each year to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism.

Let’s celebrate it with the wise words from Miyako Island, Okinawa Prefecture, that pay tribute to community bonds, as narrated in the video Hisamitsu Album (*Fujita-Round & Hattori, 2019).

AGATA NU UTUZZA YUZZA TSUKAFU NU TUNAZU
Cherish your close neighbors over your relatives far away.

The video documents traditional customs and language practices on Miyako Islands, including HAARI Festival for the Sea Gods, SHISHIMAI Lion Dance, UGAKI sumo wrestling, HOUGEN FUDA language tags, and more.

*Hisamatsu Album was created as part of the research of a sociolinguist and also a board member of Linguapax Asia, Dr. Sachiyo Fujita-Round with her collaborator video artist, Katsuyuki Hattori.

Their youtube page is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtsbu9qQ7GUiB558D4z4Brg