Get to know: Ainu and Ryukyu languages
Celebrating the International Year of Indigenous Languages, IMADR holds an human rights seminar on the right to languages of indigenous peoples.
According to the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of UNESCO, there are 8 endangered languages in Japan. Among them are indigenous Ainu language and Ryukyu languages. However, the situation of indigenous peoples of Japan is still little known among the Japanese society, much less of their languages. At the seminar, we invite an Ainu language instructor and an expert on Ryukyu languages to give the audience an introduction to Ainu and Ryukyu languages. Also, Mr. Alexey Tsykarev, a former member of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, will give a keynote speech on the importance of protecting and promoting indigenous languages inside and outside of Japan and the role of the UN.