Okinawa Studies Research Guide: Folktales

GW Okinawa Collection/Okinawa International University Collaboration Project

- 南風原町公式動画チャンネル/Haebaru Town Official YouTube Channel
- Two stories with English subtitles
1) "The Story of Adan No Mi"
2) " The Man Who Often Farts"

- Digitizing tape-recorded audio data collected by Prof. Shoji Endo (Okinawa International University) and managing them in a database
- Approximately 73,000 stories and 4,400 audio tapes were collected during the 33 years of research
- Available in Japanese

- Eleven stories included with visuals (headphones are strongly suggested due to low audio settings)

- Focuses on research on oral literature such as old stories, legends, myths, narratives, folk songs, and proverbs.
- Periodical 『口承文芸研究』(oral literature research): Back numbers available on the website.
- Established in 1977

- Available in other foreign languages (see top of the homepage)
- Aguni Village-initiated, community-based digital archive
- Includes more than 550 folktales accompanying audio recordings

- More than 30 stories are available both in Ryukyuan dialect and standard Japanese
- Stories can be searched by region or alphabetically

- Operated by the Okinawa City Municipal Museum
- Includes 18 Okinawa City-originated folktales

- Includes three folktales from Kita Nakagusuku Village
- YouTube channel

- Features five folktales that are handed down in Yonabru Town in 'kamishibai' (=paper play) style

- Started in 2010 by NHK Okinawa
- A couple dozen of stories (videos) can be viewed online
- Subtitles available for standard Japanese

- Includes a folktale originated in Ojima Island (Nanjo City)

- Approximately 90 folktales recorded in Shimakutuba (a Ryukyuan language)
- Available in mp3
- Searchable by areas in Okinawa

- Includes a dozen folktales relevant to the improvement of the graveyard, which is the sacred area of ​​the ancestral rituals in Okinawa

- Features seven stories with some explanation of the vocabularies
- Part of the Ryukyu Cultural Archives that cover a wide variety of Ryukyu/Okinawan culture

- Organization to support employment and social advancement for those with physical and mental disabilities
- Features five stories. All works including animation, screenplay and dubbing were done by employees

- Created by students in the Department of Japanese Languages and Cultures, Okinawa International University
- Includes 550 folktales in Okinawa (some duplicates)
- English subtitles available for bilingual videos

- Searchable by prefecture and genre
- Flipable pages along with audio

- The TV program "Manga Nihon Mukashibanashi," aired from 1975 through 1995 on Mainichi Broadcasting Station
- 19 stories from Okinawa stored in the database (only tests with no audio or visual)