1 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Ainu Language (a beautiful and fascinating language in danger of extinction)
Can we not acknowledge it's silly to announce bus stops in a language that literally only 15 people speak?
I live in Hokkaido by the way
Comment by whosdamike at 23/01/2025 at 08:40 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Is it practical? No.
But I don't think everything needs to be done for practical, rational reasons. Doing things because we feel it honors something, because of the feelings behind the actions, etc is really human. I'm personally okay with it but ymmv.
Comment by Turbulent-Sound4815 at 29/01/2025 at 22:12 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I don’t even think it would be impractical. I imagine this is mainly happening in places with heavy Ainu populations and are full of Ainu heritage language learners. While there aren’t many fluent in Ainu but there are thousands of heritage learners across Hokkaido, so having the language built into the infrastructure helps support their language learning. Plus, it reinforces Ainu place names which also preserves cultural knowledge.