Whether you’re Team Sub or Team Dub, you’ve likely encountered at least one Japanese dialect in anime. Hyōjungo (標準語), or standard Japanese, is learned in schools and commonly used in media. But like other countries, Japan has regional dialects that may sound slightly different from standard Japanese or even confuse a native speaker! So buckle up as we tour the country through different dialects you can find in anime.
Our first stop is the Kansai region, home to one of the most common dialects used in anime: Kansai-ben ( -ben being a suffix used for dialects). In English dubs, this is often signified with a Southern accent. But even a regional dialect like Kansai-ben could have variants depending on the prefecture or city.
Mystery-thriller Summer Time Rendering takes place in Wakayama Prefecture, located south of Osaka. The author Yasuki Tanaka took inspiration from a real-life uninhabited island off the coast of Wakayama for the story’s eerie setting and made the characters speak Kishu-ben (also known as Wakayama-ben ) to emphasize the rural atmosphere.
Other anime also use dialects to set characters apart from one another, like Shinobu Wakamiya and Arata Wataya from Chihayafuru who are skilled karuta card game players. Shinobu’s Kyoto-ben is distinctly different from Arata’s Fukui-ben–but both dialects give a lot of details about the characters, with Shinobu’s refined upbringing in historic Kyoto and Arata’s karuta heritage as Fukui Prefecture is home to many talented karuta players.
We can head east to Aichi Prefecture where Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki immerses viewers in Nagoya-ben and follows the characters as they introduce their Tokyo-raised classmate to Nagoya culture. But just because something is set in a particular city doesn’t mean that city’s dialect is the only one you’ll hear.
In Medalist , a sports anime set in Nagoya, we’ll meet athletes from all over Japan, like Coach Yudai from Kyoto. And since ice skater Ryoka “Mike” Miketa comes from the eastern part of Aichi known as Mikawa, she’s quick to tell people that she speaks Mikawa-ben to show off her hometown pride.
If we head north past Tokyo, we’ll find the region of the main Honshu Island known as Tohoku. Just like Kansai and other major regions, Tohoku also has a regional dialect which we can hear spoken by Chika Ogiue from Genshiken. Like some people who move to major urban cities, a lot of anime characters from other parts of Japan adapt hyōjungo to communicate easily. But depending on the situation, a bit of the dialect may slip out when it feels more natural for the character to use it.
Dialects in anime play a major role even in sci-fi and fantasy settings. Quirky historical sci-fi series Gintama may be full of chaotic jokes and absurd scenarios, but between all the shenanigans, it’s one way to experience Tosa-ben through the character Tatsuma Sakamoto who is based on a real historical figure from Kochi Prefecture.
Speaking of sci-fi comedies based on real life, Zombieland Saga came to be when the president of Cygames asked the production staff to make an anime set in his home prefecture of Saga, another rural area in Japan. Animation studio MAPPA followed through with an anime about zombies-turned-idols promoting Saga Prefecture. Karatsu City, which is heavily featured in the anime, even did a collaboration video with the characters for PR!
Nearby Nagasaki’s Goto-ben gets a turn in the spotlight in the slice-of-life comedy anime Bakaramon, a term from the Goto Islands used to refer to an energetic person. While the main character starts out feeling out of place, he grows to appreciate his new home and the people around him.
Up to now, most of the dialects we’ve covered can be generally understood by people who speak hyōjungo, with maybe a few region-specific phrases and terms needing explanation. But some dialects and languages within Japan are so difficult to understand that TV programs will provide subtitles in hyōjungo for people to understand.
Golden Kamuy , a historical adventure series, follows a treasure hunt that mostly takes place in Hokkaido. And the show does an impressive job at showcasing Kagoshima-ben (also known as Satsuma-ben ), one of the most difficult dialects to understand in Japan, through Koito Otonoshin. But Otonoshin isn’t the only character who adds to the regional variety of characters. Golden Kamuy is often noted for its depiction of Japan’s indigenous Ainu people, as the manga’s original creator Satoru Noda consulted closely with Ainu scholars and organizations as he created the series. The Ainu language is spoken between Ainu characters with Japanese translations provided, and main character Asirpa mixes Ainu terms with her Japanese speech.
Next we’re heading all the way south to Okinawa where we’ll encounter Uchinaaguchi, the local name for the Okinawan language in the southern parts of the island. In Okitsura: Fell In Love With An Okinawan Girl, transfer student Teruaki Nakamura struggles to understand what his crush says as she speaks Uchinaaguchi and asks another classmate to act as a translator for him. As the series progresses, we get to see not only Teruaki’s relationships develop but we also get to learn about Okinawan culture.
Finally, we’re going back north for one last stop in Aomori, where the light fantasy romcom Grandpa And Grandma Turn Young Again takes place. Unlike all the other anime we’ve seen on this list, this one doesn’t quite have a typical dialect. Kagiri Araido, the series creator, originally wanted to use Tsugaru-ben, a dialect from western Aomori that’s notoriously difficult to understand for most Japanese speakers. In this case, Araido-sensei settled on making up a dialect that uses Tsugaru-ben as a base in order to make it still feel true to the story’s rural setting without making it too hard for readers to understand.
So there you have it: a trip around Japan through the various dialects and languages around the country! Let us know if any of these surprised you or if you have other interesting examples!
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