Kansaipedia is an all-in-one online textbook for learning to both understand and speak the Kansai dialect.
Purchase KansaipediaLetโs say youโre planning a trip to Osaka and Kyoto.
How do you impress the locals and make some new friends?
More and more non-native speakers are becoming fluent in standard Japanese, but itโs still rare to meet someone who speaks Kansai dialect fluently.
Learning the local dialect is a great way to show your appreciation for the culture. Mastering the Kansai dialect, or even picking up a few local phrases will let you connect with locals and make new friends!
There are some words and phrases that are only used in the Kansai area.
| Standard | Kansai | |
|---|---|---|
| real, true | ๆฌๅฝ [honntou] | ใปใใพ [honma] |
| good | ่ฏใ [ii] | ใใ [ee] |
| no good, not allowed | ใ ใ [dame] | ใใใ [akan] |
Using these sentence-endings is one of the easiest ways to sound more Kansai!
| Standard | Kansai | |
|---|---|---|
| โThis is a true story.โ | ใใฎ่ฉฑๆฌๅฝใ ใ [Kono hanashi honntou dayo] | ใใฎ่ฉฑใปใใพใใง [Kono hanashi honma yade] |
| โI have a day off tomorrow.โ | ๆๆฅไผใฟใชใใ [Ashita yasumi nanda] | ๆๆฅไผใฟใใญใ [Ashita yasumi yanen] |
The pitch difference might be the trickiest part of the dialect. Hearing these apart is difficult to even native speakers outside of the Kansai area.
chopsticks
interesting, amusing
๐๐ Native speakers can tell which part of Japan someone is from just by listening to their pitch accent!
People from Kansai are often described as warmer and friendlier than people from other parts of Japan.
This may be because of the regionโs more relaxed, laid-back way of life and its reputation as Japanโs comedy capital.
Check out these sample pages!
It's one of the best English resources about Kansai dialect!
Other resources online are often old and messy, but this one is clean, organized, and easy to navigate.
The quality of the audio spoken by Ben Kansai is amazing!