2024 Kenpi Program Student Efforts [Dylan John Tamotsu Kamiyama Pilger]
4:48 PM
1.Self-Introduction
Name：Dylan John Tamotsu Kamiyama Pilger
Nationality： Hawaiʻi
Roots：Naha and Henoko
Training location： Meio University
Is it true?!： The Native Hawaiian language was nearly extinct, but Hawaiians have worked hard over the past 50 years to revive it, and today, education from kindergarten to the doctoral level can be received in the Hawaiian language.
2. What are you studying in Okinawa?
I am studying Japanese at Meio University. In order to study the health of Okinawans, I would like to be able to talk to local people in Japanese and understand the lives of everyday Okinawan people. In school I watch documentaries in Japanese, so I can learn about health in Okinawa while studying Japanese. I am also trying to preserve our precious Ryukyuan languages. So, every week I take classes in Uchinaaguchi and go to the community center to speak in Uchinaaguchi with elders.
3. Goals after leaving Okinawa
After my time in Okinawa, I plan to return to Hawaii and obtain a PhD in Public Health at the University of Hawaii. I would like to study the health of the Ryukyuan peoples. In the 1970s, Okinawa Prefecture had the longest average life expectancy in Japan, but by 2022, it had become the shortest. During the same period, Ryukyuan cultures and languages had been in decline. I believe the decline of Ryukyuan culture and language may be impacting the life expectancy of Ryukyuan peoples. I would like to study this relationship between Ryukyuan culture and health and help to address health disparities in Okinawa.
Image designed by Karen Okuda and Mayumi Tamashiro, Kenpi Program Student
