What Japanese dialect do you like the most?

[Riz.]

Hi there!
What Japanese dialect do you like the most? And are there any otome CDs you would recommend where the male character speaks in a dialect?

I'm from the Kansai region, so I speak Kansai dialect in my everyday life. Kansai is actually quite a large area, so even when a voice actor is speaking Kansai dialect, sometimes their words and intonation are different from mine. I find that really interesting! (Mondo Ash-san's Kansai dialect has a similar rhythm and intonation to the way I speak.)

For that reason, I find Hakata dialect and Hiroshima dialect particularly appealing. They have a somewhat rough and rugged sound to them, and that's one of the things I really like about them.

I'd be happy to have lots of conversations with everyone. Nice to meet you all, and I look forward to talking with you!

 

[blackflag]

I'm biased as I live in the region but, Kansai, duh.
なんでやねん～

There is no more powerful polite-rudeness than a kyoto-kansai person in this world. Its a finely practiced art.

 

[サカタ]

I think kansai-ben is very intriguing. I like how there's is unique tone in kansai-Ben. I'm not native in Japanese, but in my country it's like I'm hearing my mom accent haha

 

[Riz.]

I'm biased as I live in the region but, Kansai, duh.
なんでやねん～

There is no more powerful polite-rudeness than a kyoto-kansai person in this world. Its a finely practiced art.

I love male characters who speak Kansai-ben too ❤
But somehow, maybe because it's a dialect I'm so familiar with, I always feel strangely flustered when I hear it in otome CDs, haha. It gives me this weird sense of "Wait, I know this way of speaking!" and I can't help but feel a little self-conscious.

I actually speak Kyoto-ben myself, so I think I understand what you mean to some extent, haha.
I don't usually make sarcastic or passive-aggressive remarks with bad intentions, but I often find myself regretting something I've said afterward and thinking, "…Oh no, maybe they took that as a sarcastic comment."

 

[Riz.]

I think kansai-ben is very intriguing. I like how there's is unique tone in kansai-Ben. I'm not native in Japanese, but in my country it's like I'm hearing my mom accent haha

Kansai-ben does have its own distinctive rhythm and intonation. With Osaka-ben, I get the impression that the middle sound of three-syllable words is often pronounced with a higher pitch. Kyoto-ben can sometimes have what's called a "middle tone" as well. It's difficult to explain, but I think of it as the pitch dropping by about a semitone when you stretch out the end of a word.

I don't often get the chance to hear the impressions of someone who isn't a native Japanese speaker about Japanese dialects, so I was really happy to hear your thoughts.

It's fascinating that even though Japanese is a foreign language to you, the dialect can somehow sound like a familiar accent from your own country. I think that's really interesting!

 

[blackflag]

I love male characters who speak Kansai-ben too ❤
But somehow, maybe because it's a dialect I'm so familiar with, I always feel strangely flustered when I hear it in otome CDs, haha. It gives me this weird sense of "Wait, I know this way of speaking!" and I can't help but feel a little self-conscious.

I actually speak Kyoto-ben myself, so I think I understand what you mean to some extent, haha.
I don't usually make sarcastic or passive-aggressive remarks with bad intentions, but I often find myself regretting something I've said afterward and thinking, "…Oh no, maybe they took that as a sarcastic comment."

I learned all my japanese as kansai dialect so I didnt realize all my tones and slang were all from the region until I met my friends in tokyo and they were so surprised of how I spoke as we had only ever done text!

Maori (the native language of new zealand) has near identical vowels and consontants so learning to pronounce things wasnt too hard!

 

[Riz.]

I learned all my japanese as kansai dialect so I didnt realize all my tones and slang were all from the region until I met my friends in tokyo and they were so surprised of how I spoke as we had only ever done text!

Maori (the native language of new zealand) has near identical vowels and consontants so learning to pronounce things wasnt too hard!

The language spoken in the region where you live is something you naturally pick up through everyday life rather than something you consciously study, so I imagine that makes it much easier to learn. But Kansai-ben and standard Japanese have quite different intonation, so I don't think it's surprising that your friends were surprised when they finally heard you speak, haha.

I didn't know there was a language called Māori! I'll listen to the video you recommended later.

I'm currently interested in German and English, but I found learning the pronunciation of the alphabet really difficult. Personally, I sometimes feel that Spanish pronunciation sounds a little similar to Japanese.

 

[ceeceelemon]

There is something about that Kansai accent get me going

 

[エブリン]

Kansai-ben is definitely my favorite lol! It feels warm and lively, and somehow makes the character sound even more charming haha.

 

[Riz.]

There is something about that Kansai accent get me going

Kansai-ben really is popular, isn't it!

Do you find Kansai-ben sexy or seductive?

For me, it's such a familiar dialect that when I hear Mondo Ash-san speaking Kansai-ben, it sometimes makes me feel like he's just the older guy who lives in my neighborhood, haha. (Of course, that depends on the character he's playing!)

 

[Riz.]

Kansai-ben is definitely my favorite lol! It feels warm and lively, and somehow makes the character sound even more charming haha.

Kansai-ben really does have a mysterious charm to it, doesn't it?

I'm actually very curious about why Kansai-ben is so popular.

Even if Kansai-ben weren't the dialect I grew up with, I think characters who speak it would still feel like they have a certain presence that's close and familiar.

Personally, I feel that Kansai-ben has a particularly strong local, rooted character, so maybe that's part of the reason you find it so warm and lively.

 

[Kyouri]

western dialect overall I think... but definitely Kansai-ben being a favorite. The tonal shifts (?) are just really appealing to me, I'm not sure why. Haha. Plus some of the word differences from standard japanese are really cute. (also kansai dialect yandere or yazuka kinds are reallyyyy hot too xD )

 

[O cha]

I really like Kansai dialects too! I'm not Japanese, so I can't really tell the difference between Kyoto-ben, Nara-ben, and so on, haha.

Where I live, regional dialects tend to have a very lively, sometimes even a little rough-around-the-edges image. That's why I find Kyoto-ben so fascinating—it's a dialect too, but it has such a soft, refined, and elegant quality to it. I think that contrast is really charming!

It's actually a little difficult to capture that feeling when translating it into my own language, because we don't really have a dialect that gives off the same kind of refined or graceful impression. Haha. I think that's part of what makes Kyoto-ben feel so incredibly appealing to me!

 

[Riz.]

western dialect overall I think... but definitely Kansai-ben being a favorite. The tonal shifts (?) are just really appealing to me, I'm not sure why. Haha. Plus some of the word differences from standard japanese are really cute. (also kansai dialect yandere or yazuka kinds are reallyyyy hot too xD )

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

I'm honestly really happy to see just how incredibly popular Kansai-ben is. It's kind of amazing, haha.

I've actually had friends from outside the Kansai region tell me that Kansai-ben has intonation that feels almost like riding a roller coaster, so maybe that's exactly what makes it so appealing!

As for words that differ between eastern and western Japan, the most famous examples would probably be aho and baka, right? Even I find it fascinating that two regions can use such different words despite speaking the same language, haha.

I only know one otome CD featuring a yakuza character who speaks Kansai-ben, but I really wish there were more! Guys who speak in dialects are seriously so attractive.

 

[Riz.]

I really like Kansai dialects too! I'm not Japanese, so I can't really tell the difference between Kyoto-ben, Nara-ben, and so on, haha.

Where I live, regional dialects tend to have a very lively, sometimes even a little rough-around-the-edges image. That's why I find Kyoto-ben so fascinating—it's a dialect too, but it has such a soft, refined, and elegant quality to it. I think that contrast is really charming!

It's actually a little difficult to capture that feeling when translating it into my own language, because we don't really have a dialect that gives off the same kind of refined or graceful impression. Haha. I think that's part of what makes Kyoto-ben feel so incredibly appealing to me!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Hearing the perspective of someone who isn't Japanese is really valuable to me, so I found your comments very interesting to read.

Kyoto and Nara are right next to each other, so their dialects are actually quite similar. However, Kyoto-ben is often described as elegant and graceful, while Nara-ben is sometimes described as having a more gentle and laid-back quality.

Another difference is that Kyoto-ben tends to make quite frequent use of indirect expressions, whereas people in places like Osaka often seem to be much more straightforward. Of course, Kyoto people's indirect expressions are also quite often interpreted as sarcasm, so it's not necessarily always a good thing, haha.

It's really fascinating how many different impressions languages from other countries can give you, too. Even with English, the way it sounds can be completely different depending on which country the speaker is from. It's almost like dialects on a global scale, haha.

I honestly didn't expect someone to compliment the dialect I speak this much, so it made me really happy. Thank you so much!

 

[Kyouri]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

I'm honestly really happy to see just how incredibly popular Kansai-ben is. It's kind of amazing, haha.

I've actually had friends from outside the Kansai region tell me that Kansai-ben has intonation that feels almost like riding a roller coaster, so maybe that's exactly what makes it so appealing!

As for words that differ between eastern and western Japan, the most famous examples would probably be aho and baka, right? Even I find it fascinating that two regions can use such different words despite speaking the same language, haha.

I only know one otome CD featuring a yakuza character who speaks Kansai-ben, but I really wish there were more! Guys who speak in dialects are seriously so attractive.

yeah! akan, honma, chau, shaanai, the ya and n sounds are really endearing to me also. Some informal tokyo slang speech type is pretty attractive to me too.. ^^;

It's interesting with English. When I was younger, I remember girls that would swoon over british accents and I didn't really "get" it. But then I started learning Japanese and well.. I started having dialect heart flutters. xD Apparently I just hadn't found the speech that appealed to me until then!

also with manga, I've found that I *much* prefer reading it in Japanese if there is dialect speech... no matter how the translator decides to localize it, it just never feels the same! But if I read it in Japanese, I can practically hear it in my head and it hits way different!


example: ahhhh swoon and flutter. I was like... I need more yandere dialect manga.... Hahaha

 

[annaqueue]

yeah! akan, honma, chau, shaanai, the ya and n sounds are really endearing to me also. Some informal tokyo slang speech type is pretty attractive to me too.. ^^;

It's interesting with English. When I was younger, I remember girls that would swoon over british accents and I didn't really "get" it. But then I started learning Japanese and well.. I started having dialect heart flutters. xD Apparently I just hadn't found the speech that appealed to me until then!

also with manga, I've found that I *much* prefer reading it in Japanese if there is dialect speech... no matter how the translator decides to localize it, it just never feels the same! But if I read it in Japanese, I can practically hear it in my head and it hits way different!


example: ahhhh swoon and flutter. I was like... I need more yandere dialect manga.... Hahaha
View attachment 115208View attachment 115207View attachment 115205

yess Its totally different when u read japanese and translated english. Same here, when I read in japanese I can imagine and hear characters voice easly. tho Im soooo slow reading japanese so I usually have to prefer translated.

 

[Riz.]

yeah! akan, honma, chau, shaanai, the ya and n sounds are really endearing to me also. Some informal tokyo slang speech type is pretty attractive to me too.. ^^;

It's interesting with English. When I was younger, I remember girls that would swoon over british accents and I didn't really "get" it. But then I started learning Japanese and well.. I started having dialect heart flutters. xD Apparently I just hadn't found the speech that appealed to me until then!

also with manga, I've found that I *much* prefer reading it in Japanese if there is dialect speech... no matter how the translator decides to localize it, it just never feels the same! But if I read it in Japanese, I can practically hear it in my head and it hits way different!


example: ahhhh swoon and flutter. I was like... I need more yandere dialect manga.... Hahaha
View attachment 115208View attachment 115207View attachment 115205

Your thoughts are really interesting! The words you mentioned are ones I use all the time too, so hearing that they give you a particular impression was a new discovery for me. It made me think, "Oh, so that's how those words sound to someone from outside Japan!"

Standard Japanese is nice too~! I'm too embarrassed to actually imitate the way they speak, but I really like the traditional downtown Tokyo way of speaking, too. I feel like it has a very masculine quality to it.

I'm definitely jealous of British English accents!! Especially when I hear the way they pronounce the "t" sound, I absolutely love it, haha. Maybe it's actually pretty difficult to notice the appeal of something when it's something you're surrounded by every day.

The lines from the manga you recommended were playing in Kansai-ben in my head too, haha!

I think dialects are, in a way, part of a person's personality. So when they're translated into another language, I feel like that part of their personality probably gets lost.

Actually, I always thought Japanese was quite a difficult language, so I genuinely respect you for studying it to the point where you can read manga in Japanese!!

 

[Riz.]

yess Its totally different when u read japanese and translated english. Same here, when I read in japanese I can imagine and hear characters voice easly. tho Im soooo slow reading japanese so I usually have to prefer translated.

I was thinking about it in terms of movies, and I always choose the subtitled version when I watch foreign films, so I wonder if it's a similar feeling to that.

When you're reading or listening to a language that isn't your native language, there's always an extra step involved just to understand a single line, so I can definitely understand how you feel.

If it were a novel, though, I'd probably choose the translated version without hesitation, haha.

 

[Daisy Magnus229]

I think standard Japanese or Tokyo-ben lol. Kyoto-ben piques my interest too! Probably because I watch a lot of passive-aggressive politeness videos from there lol. It really broadens my mind lol



I have a love-hate relationship with Kansai-ben because back then, I had to listen to Kansai-ben and write the translation. I had no idea what they were talking about! I wasn't even that good at standard Japanese! Kansai-ben basically a torture for me lol

 

[Riz.]

I think standard Japanese or Tokyo-ben lol. Kyoto-ben piques my interest too! Probably because I watch a lot of passive-aggressive politeness videos from there lol. It really broadens my mind lol



I have a love-hate relationship with Kansai-ben because back then, I had to listen to Kansai-ben and write the translation. I had no idea what they were talking about! I wasn't even that good at standard Japanese! Kansai-ben basically a torture for me lol

Standard Japanese is nice too! I hear it so often through various forms of media that I'm probably capable of speaking it if I really tried, but I'd feel way too self-conscious actually doing it, haha.

I personally like to believe the theory that Kyoto's indirect way of making sarcastic remarks developed because people wanted to avoid conflict and therefore learned not to use openly aggressive or confrontational wording, haha. On the Japanese internet, Kyoto's indirect sarcasm is often compared to British sarcasm. I wonder if they're actually similar?

Were you doing translation work back then? That's really cool!

Even outside of Kansai-ben, regional dialects can sometimes be so different from Tokyo's standard Japanese that they almost sound like a completely different language, so I imagine translating them must have been quite a difficult task. You must have worked really hard!

 

[b3rryb3rry]

Ever since I played the Yakuza/龍が如く games I love Kansai-ben because of Majima and Saejima hehe (⁄⁄ω⁄⁄)♡
I also love direct/sarcastic speech (I am British lmao)

 

[Riz.]

Ever since I played the Yakuza/龍が如く games I love Kansai-ben because of Majima and Saejima hehe (⁄⁄ω⁄⁄)♡
I also love direct/sarcastic speech (I am British lmao)

I've never played those games myself, but they're definitely very well-known titles!

It makes me really happy to see that so many people like Kansai-ben, but at the same time, it's a little embarrassing for me, haha.

I absolutely love the humor and clever phrasing in British expressions. This might be a strange comparison, but they're almost like a slow-acting poison—you don't always realize the meaning right away, and then once it clicks later, you can't help but chuckle, haha.

 

[nekokaburi]

Honestly, choosing a favorite work featuring dialects is an incredibly difficult task. I have a deep love for dialects myself; once I start listing the charms of Kansai-ben, Kumamoto-ben, Fukushima-ben, Kagawa-ben, and so on, there is simply no end to it.
Among them all, however, it is Kansai-ben—which I frequently encounter in anime and drama CDs—that truly makes my heart flutter.
I sincerely hope that, moving forward, we will see an ever-increasing number of wonderful works that shine a spotlight on the various dialects from across the country that I have yet to discover.

 

[Riz.]

Honestly, choosing a favorite work featuring dialects is an incredibly difficult task. I have a deep love for dialects myself; once I start listing the charms of Kansai-ben, Kumamoto-ben, Fukushima-ben, Kagawa-ben, and so on, there is simply no end to it.
Among them all, however, it is Kansai-ben—which I frequently encounter in anime and drama CDs—that truly makes my heart flutter.
I sincerely hope that, moving forward, we will see an ever-increasing number of wonderful works that shine a spotlight on the various dialects from across the country that I have yet to discover.

It would be great if we could get more works featuring regional dialects in general, not just Kansai-ben!

I've actually been curious about the recently released work featuring Keisuke Aikawa-san speaking Okayama-ben, so I'd like to give it a listen when I get the chance.

I think it would be really interesting if they ever released a work featuring a dialect from a region where the dialect is notoriously difficult to understand. I wonder if that would be a bit too ambitious, though, haha!


関西弁に限らず、方言作品がもっと増えてくれればいいですよね！
最近リリースされた哀川佳介さんが演じる岡山弁の作品はずっと気になっているので、時期を見て聞いてみたいです。
いつか方言が難しすぎる地方の方言作品が出てくれたらおもしろいなと感じるのですが、ハードル高いですかね(笑)