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Japanese Dialects and Their

Portrayal in Media

Alastair Friedrichsen
ENGL 4670: Sociolinguistics
Dr. Owen G. Mordaunt
23 November 2021
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When delving into the world of the Japanese language, it may be difficult to wrap one’s

head around conjugations, particles, and endless verb forms, but what most people fail to realize

is how the dialect can change from region to region. Since Japan is a small island, a person could

travel 20 minutes from their area and end up somewhere where the language has nuances, and it

renders them helpless against communicating. According to Lisandra Moor from

TokyoWeekender, there are 47 types of Japanese variants. However, there are 16 main dialects

that these 47 variants can fit under, and they can be broken down into 4 major categories

(“Standard Japanese”). To distinguish the types of dialects from each other, anime is a way for

non-native speakers to begin looking for what they might encounter. By looking at media like

anime and the structure of each dialect, it is clear to tell the differences between the 4 categories,

which are Eastern Japanese, Western Japanese, Kyūshū, and Ryūkyū.

Before diving in, there are a few terms that will explain what is happening with the

language. The most important term being linguistic variation, which is what is going to be

discussed. The book Language, Society & Power: An Introduction defines linguistic variation as

a phrase that “refers to the inevitable differences across and within languages and dialects”

(Mooney and Evans 268). Since there are 47 dialects in Japan, it can be easy to get lost among

them and mess up while studying the language. That is why they are broken up into categories;

the main aspects that change is verb usage (register), word associations, and accents. Register in

America refers to the use of formal and informal language, but in Japan it is split up by casual

(used with friends and family) and polite (used with strangers and people of a higher position

than oneself). Across the dialects, the most subtle change is how people accent their words.

Accent is “a way of describing the set of features which [characterize] a speaker’s language. [It]
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is about pronunciation and may provide social or regional information” (Mooney and Evans 265)

and is used in close relation with dialect to note cultural and regional variance.

With that out of the way, it is also important to be aware of anime and media in Japan and

how Japanese is represented. Dialects in anime are not always captured perfectly since Japanese

is a tone and pitch sensitive language. Voice actors try their best to mimic it but may slip into

their native dialect accents. Yet, they can copy the structure of the words that change even if they

cannot pronounce it like a native speaker would. The examples provided will be a loose

guideline for people to understand what to look out for, but in a real setting in Japan, the tone

may sound different.

Eastern Dialects

Eastern Japanese has the most used dialects because it is considered the “standard” in

Japan. Tokyo’s dialect falls underneath this category, which is known as Kantō-ben, and this is

what is seen in the media since Tokyo is the hotspot for cultural production such as television

and radio (“Japanese Dialects”). The suffix “ben” (弁) means dialect/accent in Japanese. Motto

Japan lists the dialects for Eastern Japan as Hokkaido, Tōhoku, Kantō, Tōyama, and Hachijō.

Hokkaido, Tōhoku, and Kantō have the most differences among each other; Hachijō is dying out

a little bit because of how old it is (“Standard Japanese”). Any of these dialects can be

considered standard dialects because they have similar structures.

Although they are all grouped under Tokyo-like dialect, native speakers can recognize

where someone is from due to how they speak. For Kantō-ben, Lingualift states that it is “flat

without much intonation” (“Japanese Dialects”). It is the dialect that people study in classes, and

every change in conjugation stems from this “base” for the Japanese language; it is standard

speech. Tōhoku-ben is comparable to slowed country speech and stops in the dialect become
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nasal sounds; they even change the particles used for place in time with “さ (sa)” (“Japanese

Dialects”). People can recognize it because it is considered a “mumble” dialect (“Japanese

Dialects”). Another feature that’s notable is that /e/ is pronounced like [je], which is a feature of

old Japanese that is not found in standard speech (“Tohoku”). For Hokkaido-ben, mainly the

words change. Looking at LiveJapan, sentences are conjugated the same as most Eastern

dialects, but the vocabulary changes (Kotobasha and Pan). It is a mixture of Kantō-ben and

Tōhoku-ben depending on if a person is found inland or on the coast. To give a few examples,

the word “kawaii” or “cute” becomes “menkoi” (Kotobasha and Pan). The word “kowai” or

“scary” can take the place of words that are synonymous with tired (Kotobasha and Pan).

Another interesting point about Hokkaido-ben is the fact that the potential form of verbs shifts a

little. Instead of う-verbs taking on their e-ending, they take on an a-ending with an added “reru”

to express what one can and cannot do (Karavasilis).

By looking at anime as a reference, one has to be aware that it depends on where the

scene is set and who the characters are when writers choose a dialect to use. A majority of anime,

however, will be using Kantō-ben since it is widely understood and accessible to people, and

many plots are set in Tokyo. According to Jordan Cartwright from Insider Travel Japan, “Just

remember that the language used could be either extremely informal or have so much ‘masu’

your head will explode.” This is referring to the two registers of Japanese, which are casual and

polite—the words “masu” and “desu” end most polite sentences and is what makes it

recognizable to anyone, especially those who do not know much about Japanese. Over 50% of

anime shows use Tokyo’s dialect, and as mentioned previously, it is because Tokyo is the center

for a majority of media in Japan. A notable anime that uses Kantō-ben is Tokyo Revengers since

the show follows the Tokyo Manji gang. Tōhoku-ben is a bit harder to find, but in Kimi no Na
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wa, Mitsuha has a “country” accent that other characters around her notice, and it is that country

intonation is the closest to this dialect (“Anime Characters”). The characters find it odd because

she has switched bodies with a guy who lives in Tokyo. In the show Erased, it is set in

Hokkaido, and thus, it uses Hokkaido dialect for its characters. Meanwhile, these dialects make

up around 50% of what is used as mentioned before, but there is another common set of dialects

that are possibly more favored by viewers.

Western Dialects

Western dialects are popular because of how they sound. This includes Hokuriku,

Chūgoku, Unpaku, Shikoku, and Kansai. The most popular dialect is commonly referred to as

Kansai-ben, and according to Lingualift, “[t]here is a love-hate relationship between Kansai and

Kanto speakers, the latter feeling like the former are charming, funny, obnoxious or gangster-ish,

depending on the person” (“Japanese Dialects”). Kansai-ben has been looked down upon in

Tokyo because of how brash it sounds, but younger people are starting to include words and

structures from it in their daily conversational patterns because it is much livelier and more

expressive than Kantō-ben, which is considered flat (Cartwright). Elaina R. from TakeLessons

propounds that these dialects are comparable to southern American English because of how

words are shortened, much like how southerners use “y’all” or take the “g” off -ing words.

Now, looking at Kansai-ben, there are several significant changes that would throw a

standard speaker off. The negative conjugation for words is usually -nai, but in Kansai-ben, that

switches to -hen (Karavasilis). Particles are often omitted as well (Karavasilis). In certain places,

“arimasen”, which means “does not exist” conjugates to “ohen”. Along with those prior changes,

one of the main endings of standard sentences or the copula verb “desu/deshite” would turn into

“dosu/doshite” (Karavasilis). Another would be how the word for “to exist” referring to living
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objects goes from “iru” to “oru”, which would confuse people who are not familiar with the

dialect (R., Elaina). The “i” sound also gets changed to “o” when dealing with い-adjectives (R.,

Elaina). This is where the southern-sounding drawl comes in. The words are shortened to add the

upbeat and youthful tone that people enjoy. When using “desu”, it can be shortened to “de” in

standard variation, but it becomes “da” in Kansai-ben. One word that is easily spotted by people

who watch anime is “nande” in standard dialect, which means “why?”, but it turns into “naze” in

Kansai-ben (“Standard Japanese”). “Naze” is the catchier version of the word, however, “nande”

is more serious and dramatic like standard dialect tends to be, and both are seen in anime

situations that match their tones.

In anime, Kansai-ben is favored for comic relief, gangster, or charming characters

because that is how it comes off to non-Kansai users (“Japanese Dialects”). A noteworthy anime

that uses Kansai-ben is Haikyuu!!. Coming from the Hyōgo prefecture, the team Inarizaki has a

set of brothers that are not from around the area. They are known as the Miya twins: Miya

Atsumu and Miya Osamu. Their team catches the way that the two speak and tease Atsumu

specifically for how loud he is, even if he is charismatic. He can be seen using “da” at the end of

his sentences, and he cut words short. Everyone he meets as an opponent makes note of his

unique way of speaking, immediately knowing that he is not from where his team originates.

Another example would be Kero-chan from Cardcaptor Sakura because he is characterized as

boisterous and is comedic relief; in the manga there is evidence of him using Osaka’s version of

Kansai-ben.

Kyūshū Dialects

Kyūshū speakers are typically seen as “rough, dynamic and stubborn” and have an

alternative version of a rural accent (“Useful Notes”). Hōnichi, Hichiku, and Satsugū all fall
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under the broader category of Kyūshū-ben (“Standard Japanese”). One of the main aspects of

Kyūshū that may throw people off is that い-adjectives don't end with "i", they end with "ka"

(“Useful Notes”). For example, the word hot (atsui) would be “atsuka” in Kyūshū dialects.

Along with that, the particles “bai” and “tai” can be applied at the end of sentences for emphasis

(“Useful Notes”). Meanwhile, another particle is changed: the object-marking particle “wo” is

replaced with “ba” (“Useful Notes”). Lingualift gives examples of sentences that change and

states that the changes are “practically incomprehensible if you are unfamiliar with the dialect”

(“Japanese Dialects”). Instead of “no” at the end of sentences for interrogatives, Kyūshū uses

“to” or “tto” to express that a person is pressing a bit for more information (“Useful Notes”). It

can be comparable to a country accent in America; the people are more isolated from city-

dwellers. One Kyūshū subdialect is so unintelligible to the other subdialects:

[T]he southern edge of Kyushu is home to the Kagoshima-ben group of dialects, also

known as Satsugū. Although they share over three-quarters of the Standard Japanese

vocabulary, the dialects are mutually unintelligible to even the neighbouring Kyushu

variants, and there are many stories of natives of other regions mistaking Kagoshima-ben

speakers for foreign tourists. (“Japanese Dialects”)

All of the dialects for Kyūshū vary so drastically that they even get confused with each other; the

rest of Japan also finds the dialects of this region to be impossible to understand (“Japanese

Dialects”). Anime is not shy about showing this trope.

There is one character that is a perfect representation of one of the Kyūshū dialects, and

she speaks the Oita Hōnichi variation of Japanese. Sasha Braus from Attack on Titan spends

most of her time trying to mask her accent from the people she trains with. A YouTuber by the

name of That Japanese Man Yuta points out what the differences are between her speech and
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standard speech. There is a scene where she says, “Uso desho, ana matte kudasai yo”, which was

overly polite for the situation because she uses kudasai; the child she was with noticed and asked

her why she was speaking like that (“Anime Characters”). Another time she was called out by

one of her fellow soldiers for the same reason; in Japan, if a person uses standard dialect, formal

speech comes off as cold or stiff when around colleagues (“Anime Characters”). TVtropes points

out that she is “overcompensating to hide her natural accent (which sounds like a Kyushu

accent)” (“Useful Notes”). Based on her character’s background, her family are woodsmen—

they have never needed to be polite. It is assumed her dialect is closest to Kyūshū because of

this. Most anime bases the way characters speak off of naturally occurring dialects, but since

there are too many conjugations to keep track of, sometimes it will only capture the essence of

what the language should be. It will not be entirely accurate.

Two characters from Yuri!! On Ice are from this region too. It is noted that Yuri Katsuki

typically “speaks standard Japanese, but slips back into Saga dialect when talking to his parents

or when he gets drunk”, and Kenjiro Minami, who talks like that constantly (“Useful Notes”).

Tsukimi Kurashita from Princess Jellyfish, Otonoshin Koito from Golden Kamuy, and Marika

Tachibana from Nisekoi are all perfect examples as well of how Kyūshū is represented; they all

slip back into their native dialect when they are upset or excited (“Useful Notes”). It seems there

is a stigma with this dialect because it is roguish to Tokyo speakers when they cannot understand

it, so these characters are forced to hide how they spoke before in order to please the people

around them, or to assimilate into their surroundings.

Ryūkyū Dialects

Ryūkyū dialect, specifically the one found around Okinawa, is dying out as more people

shift to standard Japanese (R., Elaina). The dialects are considered endangered by UNESCO, and
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it borrows many words from standard Japanese and assigns them alternate meanings. Elaina R.

from TakeLessons gives the example that “‘korosu’ means ‘hit’ in Okinawan Japanese and ‘kill’

in Standard Japanese”; it is easy to confuse or muddle up conversations because of how drastic

the meaning shifts are. The three dialects that are in this category are Amami, Okinawa, and

Sakishima (“Standard Japanese”). The people on these islands identify themselves as a separate

ethnicity, but the Japanese government does not recognize their request (“Useful Notes”). If it

was compared to English, it would be like how Hawaiian English functions (“Useful Notes”).

These dialects take on a bolder and firmer meaning. The ending “masho ne” usually is

meant for suggestions, but here it is a declaration, meaning a person should perform an action

(“Useful Notes”). “Kara”, a word that usually means “from” or “since” takes on the meaning of

“as” and “because” (“Useful Notes”). Sentence ending copulas “da” and “jan” are now “saa”

(“Useful Notes”). Meanwhile, American words have extra katakana characters because they are

pronounced differently (“Useful Notes”). To explain, Katakana is a separate character system

that mimics the sound system in Japan to make foreign words sound correct. This type of speech

is rarely seen because native speakers are passing on.

Anime seldom has this dialect for characters. Nevertheless, there are some other pop

culture icons and shows that are from Okinawa like Godzilla or The Karate Kid Part II (“Useful

Notes”). Sadly, there are not many representations of it since it is lesser known, so the islands are

mainly utilized for story plots instead of for the distinctive culture they offer. There is one anime

that has a couple of characters who speak Okinawan, but that is because they are Yo-Kai spirits

that are native to the region; they use “saa” at the end of their statements (“Useful Notes”).

To visualize how people may not understand Okinawan, here is a sentence that has a

different lexicon and morphology despite holding the same meaning in English. In English, the
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sentence is “When he said that he wanted to eat it right away and was just about to cut it into two

pieces with his knife, a cute boy emerged from within” (Heinrich). When translating that over to

standard Japanese, it becomes “Sugu tabete miyo to itte hocho de futatsu ni sako to shitara, naka

kawairashii otoko no ko ga dete kimashita” (Heinrich). Finally, in Okinawan, it is “Sigu kadi

nndandi ici hoocaasi taacinkai sakandi sakutu, naakakara uziraasigisaru ufuwikiganu nziti

caabitan” (Heinrich). The words being employed are an example of how Ryūkyū dialects will

take content from standard Japanese and alter the meanings of them for their own use. Hopefully,

in the future, Ryūkyū will be preserved and continue to be used on the islands.

Conclusion

With so many dialects in Japan, any new learner would find themselves a bit lost

navigating them. Most of the dialects make such small changes, but those changes can make a

sentence unrecognizable if a person is not aware. With the ones that are unrecognizable even to

Japanese speakers, it may be necessary to be exposed to the culture and the natural setting where

it is being used to implement those tricks into standard Japanese vocabulary, conjugations, and

structure. However, if one were to visit Japan, the standard Japanese that most classes offer

would suffice until a student can be exposed to situations where it can be used. Anime should not

be used as a blueprint because it is not reflective of real-life speech patterns; anime only copies

conjugations so that people can identify and learn basic nuances for themselves. By exploring

Eastern Japanese, Western Japanese, Kyūshū, and Ryūkyū with all their dialects, it can introduce

people to how different parts of the culture function, and they will be able to know what to

expect if they want to visit. The connection between anime and Japanese dialects go hand in

hand with one another; it is a great start teaching oneself what they might see in real life, but it
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will not be as natural as going personally. All this general information is a surefire way to

explore Japan while being aware of the people who live there.
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Works Cited

“Anime Characters Who Speak Japanese Dialects.” YouTube, uploaded by That Japanese Man

Yuta, 1 Jan. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JW79dI-o0o

Cartwright, Jordan. "Anime: Which Japanese Dialects Are Used?" Insider Travel Japan, Insider

Travel Japan, insidertraveljapan.com/anime-dialects/?

utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=anime-dialects.

Heinrich, Patrick. "Language Loss and Revitalization in the Ryukyu Islands." The Asia-Pacific

Journal, vol. 3, no. 11, 24 Nov. 2005, apjjf.org/-Patrick-Heinrich/1596/article.html.

"Japanese Dialects: From Familiar To Unintelligible." Lingualift, Lingualift,

www.lingualift.com/blog/japanese-dialects-ben-hougen/.

Karavasilis, Thanasis. "7 Major Japanese Dialects You Oughta Know." FluentU, Enux Education

Limited, www.fluentu.com/blog/japanese/different-japanese-dialects/.

Kotobasha, Minna, and Huiman Pan. "Hokkaido-Ben: Useful Words from the Hokkaido Dialect

to Spice Up Your Trip." LiveJapan: Perfect Guide, LiveJapan, 19 Apr. 2021,

livejapan.com/en/in-hokkaido/in-pref-hokkaido/in-sapporo_chitose/article-a1000402/.

Mooney, Annabelle, and Betsy Evans. Language, Society & Power: An Introduction.

Routledge, 2019.

Moor, Lisandra. TokyoWeekender, ENGAWA Co., Ltd., 21 May 2020,

www.tokyoweekender.com/2020/05/learn-japanese-dialects/.

R., Elaina. "The Ultimate Guide to Major Japanese Dialects." TakeLessons, TakeLessons, 8 Sept.

2017, takelessons.com/blog/japanese-dialects-z05.

"Standard Japanese vs. Regional Dialects." Motto Japan Study, Motto Japan, 30 Jan. 2019,

motto-jp.com/study/en/tips/289/standard-japanese-vs-regional-dialects/.
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"Tohoku Regional Accent." TVTropes, TVTropes,

tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TohokuRegionalAccent.

"Useful Notes / Japanese Dialects." TVTropes, TVTropes,

tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/JapaneseDialects.