Why Japan’s Northern Dialects are Shorthand for “Hick”
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- Опубліковано 10 січ 2022
- Why a wide range of local dialects in Japan's Tohoku Region are intrinsically - and unfairly - associated with rural backwardness. This is the story of Zuzu-ben.
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Original Zuzuben article on our website: unseenjapan.com/zuzu-ben-japa...
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This reminds me a lot of how in England the Northern accents like Manc, Scouse and Geordie etc. Are often looked down on by southerners as they have a certain lower working class connotation compared with the more refined southern accents of The Home Counties and London.
England is a great case example for social/stock character indicators based on accent and dialect. So many accents, so many stereotypes associated with them. Honestly quite fascinating.
Same way how us Americans stereotype people with strong southern accents" as "Hill Billy's or "Red necks"
Sean Bean!
Yeah I've got an incredibly thick Lancashire accent so people tend to assume I'm some farmer or whatever
I think this is global because of the three countries I have lived in so far had the same logicality eith the languages in Slovakia, Czech republic and also Austria
If the dialect is from the mountain region they tend to be judgemental towards people that use these but one exeption in Slovakia there is the region called "Záhorí" (zaa-ho-rii) rough translation behind the mountain and its considered to be the funniest dialect from Slovakia it is closer to the Czech language then to Slovak language even
Thanks for watching this one, everyone! Was nice to make a shorter one-off after completing the Japanese Red Army series. I love Japanese dialects, and of course have a soft spot for Tohoku-ben, having lived amongst it for so long. The wide variety of dialects in Japan really form this great mosaic of Japanese language across the Japanese archipelago - and that's before we even get to the separate languages, like Ainu and the Ryukyuan languages. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one!
Noah, your videos are always so brilliant and inspired. Please make more!!!
Not only Tohoku dialects but also northern Kanto(Gunma, Tochigi and Ibaraki) dialects are often used as Hick's one in movie, drama etc.
Yeah, even being a bit north of Tokyo seems to already play into those "hick" stereotypes. Tochigi and Ibaraki are where some of those Tohoku-style linguistic aspects first start to appear, so they can get lumped into that whole "northern yokel" category, even if they aren't actually part of Tohoku.
I dunno if the Kumamoto accent and other Kyushu accents are derided like the Tohoku accents are today, but I find Chishu Ryu's career to be a fascinating example of how an accent can help some actors be more distinguished.
@@cheesegorelove Chishu Ryu! Been really enjoying his roles in Ozu's films recently. Next time I see him in something, I'll place a bit more focus on the dialect he speaks in.
I'm studying Japanese and linguistics so this video was right up my alley. I'd love to delve deeper into the study of this stuff someday, I find dialects fascinating! ☺️
It's so strange then that Kansai-ben is usually translated to an American Southern accent in anime/video game dubs (Azumanga Daioh) or a Welsh one (Ni no Kuni).
Thematically, the American Southern accent (or a Northern English/Anglo-Scottish borderlands accent for the UK, being linked in ancestry to the inland American Southern dialects) would fit what the usage of the Tohoku dialect is trying to bring across far better, wouldn't it?
I do think giving Osaka a Southern accent in the dub of Azumanga Daioh really worked though. I also remember Tae in Rurouni Kenshin having a Southern accent in the dub. Her restaurant was called Akabeko, and you said "beko" is from the Fukushima dialect, so I guess it makes sense. Although Chou the Swordhunter from the same series is from Osaka and was given a Southern accent in the dub too. Funnily enough, I believe the Hougenfuda was inspired by the "Welsh Not".
Also, I have a coworker who taught English in Aormori. I wonder if her basic Japanese faired well there, lol.
You're onto something with the Scottish there!
In fact the education act in scotland was literally the same year that japan enacted theirs (1872), and used similar methods to discourage both Ghaidhlig and Scots being spoken in the classroom
Tohoku more like Scottish
Southern accent more fit with Kyushu one
日本語の方言について英語で解説してくださるのは大変ありがたいです！ 今後もUnseen Japanさんの活動を応援しますよ！
I remember watching Ama-chan back in 2016. I absolutely fell in love with the Sanriku area and in love with the Tohoku dialect. The cast, the story, it's so amazing, and I recommend it highly. Tohoku ben is my second favourite dialect from Japan and I can't get enough.
As someone who is not Japanese and who is relatively new to anime (I started watching in 2021) I honestly could never tell when different accents came up. It was only when I started watching dubs and heard characters from rural parts of Japan speaking with a Southern drawl American accent that i started to become aware of the prefectures having unique accents.I love it!🤣🤣👍👍
Tohoku is to Japan as Dixie is to the US. Tohoku-ben as a regional dialect also receives the same pity and scorn as Southern dialect of American English.
Found this through Reddit. Love the subject matter and production! Thank you for the knowledge :)
Thank you for such in-depth explanation of the dialects and a summary of its history.
It's really interesting seeing how different countries treat their dialects. And specially how correlated bad stereotypes are disappearing.
Thank you for this video!. Learned something today, very informational yet very easy to understand, kudos to you sir.
Fantastic video Noah. I certainly got a lot more insight into why TV shows that include interviews of people speaking in regional dialects contain so much text splashed over the screen and why my wife (from Tokyo) sometimes struggles with regional dialects.
Thanks! My own wife is from a non-Tohoku area that technically speaks its own "zuzu-ben", and she still has issues with northern Tohoku dialects. And then there's Wakayama-ben, or, even more difficult, Hachijojima-ben...
i really enjoyed this video! keep up the good work!
I was looking for a good breakdown on this. Thanks :)
Glad it was helpful!
1:57 I had a physical pain reaction from that, that's gonna cost so much
Awesome video. Really enjoyed it. Hearing Tohoku ben breaks my brain but its also really interesting!
Yeah, I love listening to Tohoku-ben! I remember being at an onsen in Minami Aizu, Fukushima, and having some older locals talk to me. Honestly could only understand about 40% of the words they were saying - and that's in Fukushima, where the dialect still isn't as strong as it gets farther north! Tsugaru-ben in particular is so much fun to listen to.
@@noahoskow4551 It seems so cool. At least you could understand some of it! But it's fun to listen to. Also, I love Departures. Excellent film.
In Sweden, we similarly associate northern dialects with rural countryside farmers. Another thing that’s similar, is how people say we don’t like to talk much because of the cold, but also because there are no people up here to talk to.
great watch man thanks
Fascinating video, thank you so much! I absolutely love linguistic topics ❤️
Glad it was interesting! We have a few other linguistic videos lined up for the near future.
love the video
but all i am thinking now is that we need another US accent to attribute kansai ben to in anime dubs
Yeah, Southern/Kansai only really map onto each other as more "emotional" dialects, but that's pretty much where the overlapping stereotypes end.
By the way, Kansai dialects are often thought about as yakuza, comedian and swindler for Tokyo and Kanto region people.
Usually it's a Northeastern street accent
Kansai fit with northeastern or cali dialect
@@mimorisenpai8540 what a bold direction
This is a great video I’m studying Japanese and I love dialects can you also make a video about 九州 dialects some of the 九州 are also very interesting I have heard a little of 鹿児島弁 and some people say 鹿児島弁 is almost impossible to understand I also like to know more about 博多弁 and 宮崎弁、熊本弁 長崎弁 、佐賀and 大分弁 I also wanted the ask about 四国 ,中部 ,and 中国 regions I feel like there are really overlooked but I think their dialects are also interesting like 広島弁 or 土佐弁 I have seen your 沖縄 video and I also love to learn about ウチナーグチ and the 琉球 languages I have learned some ウチナーグチ words form OkinWanderer and You中部Okinawa しまくとぅば or 琉球語is really interesting I hope you can make another video about it I also know 関西弁 is very famous but changes depending on the prefecture 京都弁 is slightly different form 関西弁 I thinks is really interesting.
That was so interesting Noah, thank you so much personally I love that pitch of the fukuoka dialect the most but that one is also very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it! I also have an appreciation for Kyushu dialects. (Honestly, I just like dialects in general.)
This is soo awesome. In my country no one dialect's, only accents exist.
Japan so cool country. Culture, anime, folk kitchen, folk music, folklore etc.
I think I can visit Japan! So good.
O would one day love to see someone analyse the dialects used in the Bleach anime, which ones are used and if there's striking differences between the Shinigami and the Humans way of speaking.
The Touhoku region reminds me Princess Mononoke. The male protagonist Ashitaka is an Emishi tribesman, hinting the story likely takes place in the Touhoku region.
Je! Je! Je!
Way of the samurai 1 ost?
Right on the money!
je je je! A wave from Aomori!
because of thi 4:58 i started to looking around more of japanese dialect and i endedup here
07:10 anyone know the name of this movie?
That’s Swing Girls!
@@UnseenJapan Thanks, I didn’t recognise this was an excerpt from Swing Girls too. 🙏
I love Aomori dialect
lol way of the samurai 1 nd 2 soundtrack lol
I'm not going to lie but
I hate people from Osaka because their dialect is kind of confusing because I can't tell if they're from Kansai or if they're from the tohoku region, for some strange reason when I listen to someone speaks from Osaka it's kind of different compared to the people that usually speak in Tokyo and that kind of confuses me but then again I'm not really too sure so I really have to ask
Nope, Osaka does not speak any accents in the English dub.
Is there a new dub? Because she clearly speaks with a “southern” accent in the old ADV English version.
@@UnseenJapan There was a separate English dub that aired on ANIMAX ASIA where she doesn't have a noticeable accent (at least to me)
BTW ADV dub went with the Texas accent partly because they equated Osaka's economic and rootsy image with Houston's (which they happened to be based in)
I am from the American south. I was looking for a dialect that would be uncommon and 'hick'. Lol.