[For Seniors] 3-Choice Dialect Quiz! A Collection of Fun Dialect Quizzes from Around Japan

beautiful; admirable; lovely (classical Japanese adjective)

In the Yamagata dialect, “kenari” means “envious” or “I wish it were so.” For example, “uji no ko kenarigaru” would mean “our child gets envious.” People from other prefectures may not have heard this word.

It’s okay, we’ll figure it out.

Nankurunaisa is an Okinawan dialect expression that positively means “Things will work out” or “No need to worry.” It’s often used to encourage someone who’s feeling down or in trouble. Many people may have heard it on TV and elsewhere.

to get full

In the Kagawa dialect, okiru has the unique meaning of “to be full.” For example, udon ni-tama demo, onaka ga okita means “Even with two servings of udon, I got full.” This differs from the standard Japanese okiru meaning “to wake up,” so be aware of this when you visit Kagawa Prefecture.

ash

In Kagoshima Prefecture, “he” refers to volcanic ash, so when people say “he ga furu,” it means that ash is falling. Speaking of Kagoshima, the ash from eruptions of Sakurajima is well-known. Since this term isn’t familiar in other prefectures, it may be hard to understand.

seiza (formal sitting posture on the heels)

“Ojyanko” is a word that means “seiza” (sitting on one’s heels). In Fukuoka Prefecture, people might say, “Sit properly in ojyanko and eat your meal.” It’s often used when telling children to sit properly in the seiza position while eating.

to be senile; to grow feeble-minded; to be out of it; to be blurred (out of focus)

“Bokeru” is a dialect term in Nagano Prefecture that specifically refers to apples becoming overripe—losing their crispness and turning soft—and is unique to Nagano. It’s used in sentences like, “Sweeter apples with lots of honeyed flesh tend to bokeru more easily, so let’s eat them soon.”

scary

The novelist Shimako Iwai, who is from Okayama Prefecture, also has a popular work called “Bokkee, Kyotee,” right? Saying kyotee when something is scary is a dialect that kind of gets the meaning across, isn’t it?