Kansai-ben Lesson 1

I’ve been living in Osaka for a while now, and starting to learn more about how to really construct the local dialect, Kansai-ben! Time for show and tell!

Most of the Kansai-ben featured here was borrowed from a book written by an Osaka native, and random encounters with my friends in Kansai.

The Kansai dialect differs depending on which region you are in. Personally, the thicker the dialect, the more interesting and fun I find Kansai-ben, so I have tried to focus on the moderate to extreme. Most of the Kansai-ben in this list is from Osaka, and likely specifically an area in south Osaka called Kawachi. This area of Kansai-ben is famous for being especially harsh, and used often in Yakuza movies. Other areas of Osaka that are known to have strong dialects are Sakai-shi, with Sensyuuben, and East Osaka in a place called Yao.

Anyway, here we go with the lessons! Expect updates periodically!

Kansai-ben lesson Point 「そら」

「そら」Examples:
A: あなたは日本人じゃないですよね？
B: そらどう見てもそうやろ！

A: You’re not Japanese right?
B: You can tell by looking right?! (That’s right no matter how you look at it!)

A: 日本でどこの地方の結婚式が一番お金かかる？
B: そら名古屋やな〜。高いで！

A: Which area of Japan has the most expensive weddings?
B: That’s Nagoya alright. It’s expensive!

A: 1000円になります。
B: え？そら千円高すぎやろ！？

A: That will be 1000 yen.
B: What? 1000 yen? That’s too expensive isn’t it?

「そら」Explanation:
「そら」= 「それは」
For all purposes そら is exactly the same as それは as in “That is” in standard Japanese. If you say それは to yourself many times quickly, you will probably notice that it is naturally “easier” physically to pronounce そら instead. そら is an abbreviated form of それは. そら does not need the particle は after it.

Most Japanese will say that そら is not very nice Japanese.
あまり綺麗な言葉ではないね〜

So there you have そら。 Let me know if you find this interesting, and if so I’ll prepare more!

- Harvey