Harararude, a lullaby in Dunan (Yonaguni-Ryukyuan)

Harararude, a non-lexical vocable that carries no meaning in itself, is the title of a lullaby that originates from Yonaguni Island, in the extreme southwest of the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. In Japanese folk song taxonomy, lullabies such as Harararude are part of warabe-uta, literally ‘child songs’. Harararude is sung in Dunan, one of six endangered languages in the Ryukyuan Archipelago. Dunan has traditionally only been spoken on Yonaguni Island. It is severely endangered in its survival, and there are less than 100 speakers left on the island in 2023.