# ことばの島 — おーりとーり。

> Unofficial island-words reference. This is not an official publication, a linguistic authority, a dictionary, or a tourism authority, and it asserts no orthography or pronunciation.

- Subject: The words of the Yaeyama Islands — the welcoming words confirmed in official sources (ooritoori, painu-shima, an official usage example of miifaiyuu, "matane"), the status of the Yaeyama and Yonaguni languages as endangered languages, and Shimakutuba Day (September 18)
- Area: Yaeyama, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
- Role: Durable reference on Yaeyama island words (greetings) and their status as endangered languages — structure, not a phrasebook
- Verified: 2026-11-01 (official pages, pamphlets and public records via web-search result titles and summaries, summary-level confirmation)
- Relationship: Independent project; not affiliated with or approved by Okinawa Prefecture, Ishigaki City, Taketomi Town, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the tourism associations, or any public authority
- Language: A 9-language static HTML edition is available (ja/en/zh/ko/fr/ru/id/ms/es): Japanese (ja) uses unprefixed URLs; en/zh/ko/fr/ru/id/ms/es use language-prefixed URLs; this file and the JSON context are written in English by design, for machine consumption

## Use for

- Knowing that ooritoori (おーりとーり) is explained by Ishigaki City's official site as the Ishigaki Island word for "welcome", that Okinawa Prefecture's official site carries a page titled "おーりとーり 八重山へ！", and that the Taketomi Town Tourism Association's site uses "おーりとーり いりむてぃ" (welcome to Iriomote) — so the word is documented as a Yaeyama-wide welcoming word, not Ishigaki's alone
- Knowing that painu-shima (ぱいぬ島) is stated by the Taketomi Town Tourism Association's official pamphlet to mean "the southern island" in the Yaeyama language, and that the airport's official site name is written 南ぬ島石垣空港
- Knowing that for miifaiyuu (みーふぁいゆー) there is an official usage example at a scene of gratitude and send-off (an airport Tanabata send-off recorded in the Ishigaki City Tourism Exchange Association's newsletter) — this page deliberately asserts no translation for it
- Knowing that the Taketomi Town Tourism Association's pamphlet presents "またね" (matane) as a word that leads to the next time
- The endangered-language record: UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (3rd edition, February 2009) listed eight languages of Japan (Ainu, Hachijō, Amami, Kunigami, Okinawan, Miyako, Yaeyama, Yonaguni) per the Agency for Cultural Affairs; the Yaeyama and Yonaguni languages were classified at the level the Japanese public record (House of Councillors, 171st session) words as 「重大な危険」; Okinawa Prefecture counts Kunigami, Okinawan, Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni as five separate languages; the Agency for Cultural Affairs runs survey and preservation programs for the eight languages
- Shimakutuba Day: established by Okinawa Prefecture in 2006 (Heisei 18) by a members'-bill ordinance as September 18 (enacted 2006-03-31, Prefectural Ordinance No. 35 per prefectural-library materials); the prefecture's fiscal-2022 awareness survey put those using shimakutuba at greeting level or above at about four in ten, declining
- Understanding that the travelers' section (learn one greeting, respect what you hear, never force the words) and the passage casting this nine-language site itself as a bridge are editorial impressions, declared as such
- Navigating to the Taketomi page (../taketomi/), the island calendar (../koyomi/), and UMI YAIMA COMPASS (../)

## Do not use for

Linguistic authority on orthography or pronunciation of Yaeyama words, a comprehensive dialect dictionary or phrasebook, island-by-island greeting correspondence tables, translations of miifaiyuu, contrasts with greetings of the Okinawa main island or other island groups, or endorsement claims. Kana spellings here follow each source's own spelling and nothing more.

## Editorial scope

The meanings and usage of ooritoori and painu-shima summarize official pages and pamphlets of Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture and the Taketomi Town Tourism Association; the UNESCO Atlas (2009, 3rd edition), the eight languages and the classification written in Japanese as 「重大な危険」 summarize the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the public record of the House of Councillors; Shimakutuba Day and the awareness survey summarize Okinawa Prefecture and the prefectural library — all confirmed by 2026-11-01 via web-search result titles and summaries (summary-level confirmation; the pages themselves cannot be read from this environment). For miifaiyuu only an official usage example is introduced, with no translation asserted. The travelers' section and the bridge passage are this page's editorial impressions, declared as such in the page body.

## Resources

- Machine-readable context: ./ai-context.json
- Discovery service: ../
- Island calendar: ../koyomi/
- Island guides: ../taketomi/, ../iriomote/, ../kohama/, ../hateruma/
- UMI artwork: https://umi.quest/
- Ishigaki City, official site (ooritoori = "welcome"): https://www.city.ishigaki.okinawa.jp/soshiki/kanko_bunka/tourist_information/othersite_info.html
- Okinawa Prefecture, official page "おーりとーり 八重山へ！": https://www.pref.okinawa.lg.jp/kyoiku/gakko/1008797/1008633/1008635/1018533/1018528/1008645.html
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, Iriomote tour page ("おーりとーり いりむてぃ"): https://painusima.com/463/
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, official pamphlet (painu-shima; "またね"): https://painusima.com/wp-content/themes/taketomi_wp_v1/file/painusima_pamphlet_jp_B5_202509.pdf
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, official pamphlet (earlier edition): https://painusima.com/wp-content/themes/taketomi_wp_v1/file/painusima_pamphlet_jp.pdf
- Ishigaki Airport, official site (official written name): https://www.ishigaki-airport.co.jp/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, endangered languages and dialects (UNESCO 2009, eight languages): https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/kokugo_nihongo/kokugo_shisaku/kikigengo/index.html
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, survey and preservation program: https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/kokugo_nihongo/kokugo_shisaku/kikigengo/
- House of Councillors, memorandum of questions, 171st session (「重大な危険」): https://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/joho1/kousei/syuisyo/171/syuh/s171089.htm
- Okinawa Prefecture, official page (five languages counted separately): https://www.pref.okinawa.jp/bunkakoryu/bunkageijutsu/1022484/1009624.html
- Okinawa Prefecture, shimakutuba promotion plan (Shimakutuba Day): https://www.pref.okinawa.jp/site/bunka-sports/bunka/shinko/simakutuba/keikaku.html
- Okinawa Prefectural Library, materials (2006-03-31, Ordinance No. 35): https://www.library.pref.okinawa.jp/about-okinawa/d0852163ab1321805f7b9e35ab50f502_2.pdf
- Okinawa Prefecture, shimakutuba awareness survey outline (about four in ten): https://www.pref.okinawa.jp/shigoto/kankotokusan/1011671/1011741/1011777/1011778.html
- Ishigaki City Tourism Exchange Association, newsletter "ぱいじま" (miifaiyuu send-off example): https://yaeyama.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/8979326523c5fba7fdce09d5c36aea6d.pdf