The Tokyo government activated a ground-based cloud seeding device in Okutama, Tokyo to try to induce rainfall and address the water shortage caused by high summer temperatures. It was the first use of the 50-year-old device in 12 years, and rain fell about an hour after activation. Japanese dialects, called ben, kotoba, or namari, vary greatly across regions. The standard Japanese of the Kanto region around Tokyo is considered hyojungo and has a flat intonation. Kansai dialects of Osaka and Kyoto are seen as lively and charming in media. Tohoku dialects of northern Honshu are characterized as the hardest to understand with unique pronunciations.

1. News Update

2. Tokyo gov't tries cloud seeding to cope with
water shortage
● Report: 22 August 2013
● water shortage in the Kanto region
○ due to high temperatures this summer
● used ground-based cloud seeding device
○ installed in Okutama, Tokyo 50 years ago
○ activated last Wednesday
○ first time in 12 years
○ rain fell about an hour after activation
Source: http://www.japantoday.
com/category/national/view/tokyo-govt-tries-cloud-
seeding-to-cope-with-water-shortage

3. Japanese Dialects
方言

4. Dialect
● 方言 “hougen” = dialect (1)
● Dialects are called -ben (弁), -kotoba (言葉),
or namari (訛り)
○ Osaka-ben
○ Shitamachi-kotoba
○ Tohoku namari
● There are over 100 Japanese dialects (2)

5. Dialect stereotypes (3)
● Kanto-ben
○ Tokyo area
○ ‘standard’ Japanese (標準語 hyoujungo)
○ flat intonation
○ Put ~さ (sa) at the end of every sentence

6. Dialect stereotypes (3)
● Kansai-ben
○ Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe area
○ lively and faster (than Kanto)
○ charming/funny-obnoxious sound
○ used by comedians and TV gangsters
● Sample expressions:
○ あかん akan = no good
○ まいど maido = thank you
○ ぼちぼち bochi-bochi = alright

7. Dialect stereotypes (3)
● Kyo-kotoba (Kyoto Dialect) (4)
○ beautiful and and elegant
○ formal expressions and verb endings
● Sample expressions:
○ おいでやす oideyasu = welcome
○ なんぼ nanbo = how much?
○ おやすみやす oyasumiyasu = good night

8. Dialect stereotypes (3)
● Tohoku-ben
○ Northern Honshu area
○ the ‘hardest’ Japanese dialect
○ long vowels, change k to g, put n before g
○ sounds lazy

9. Japan by dialect
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Japanese_dialects-en.png

10. Samples
Tohoku
Dialect
(1:19)
Kyoto-ben
(3:24)

11. Samples
Osaka-ben
(4:31) - 1:30
Kansai-ben
(4:43) - 0:50

12. References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_dialects
2. http://www.japanlinked.com/Know-everything-about-Japan-except/how-
many-dialects-are-there-in-japan.html
3. http://blog.japanalicious.com/japanese-dialects.html
4. http://japanvisitor.blogspot.com/2008/07/kyoto-dialect.html
5. http://www.tofugu.com/2011/07/25/all-you-need-to-know-about-japans-
weirdest-dialect-tohoku-ben/
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