

Spoken Japanese has a [number of
dialects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_dialects) that vary
regionally throughout the country. From my (moderately limited) Japanese
language experience, most of what is spoken in anime is Tokyo-ben (aka
Standard Japanese). I'm not great at telling the difference between dialects,
however, so I was wondering, are non-Tokyo accents/dialects common in anime,
or used at all? In shows like Yuri!!! on Ice, which is set in Kyushu, is a
Kyushu accent being used or a Tokyo one? Do shows set in Kyoto use a Kyoto
accent, or is everything standardized to a Tokyo-ben?


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anime-production voice-acting
Are non-Tokyo dialects common in anime?


The answer depends on your definition of "common". Most anime don't include
dialects or accents, so in that sense it's not "common" however it's not
unusual for a show to do so. There are quite a number of shows that include
characters with dialects, most often Kansai/Osaka-ben, but when they do it's
almost always for a direct purpose.

Some examples:

  * Igarashi Tora from Maid Sama! will occasionally speak in his native Kansai-ben (he's from Kyoto) when he's not acting like a perfect gentlemen as a sign that he's showing his true colors
  * Ebina from Himouto Umaru-chan who, when nervous or flustered, occasionally slips into Akita-ben
  * Mitsuha from Kimi no Na wa, who has a dialect to signify her status as a "country bumpkin" and it becomes relevant because she initially keeps her dialect when in Taki's body

Of course, it's not always that significant, as far as I can tell, the only
reason Natsume from Inu x Boku SS speaks Kansai is to indicate his upbeat,
outgoing nature. Perhaps for stereotype reasons?

That aside, it's rare for anime set entirely in another region to use said
region's dialect. This is because all Japanese people can understand and speak
Standard Japanese, aka Tokyo-ben, as that's what's taught in schools and show
most on television. Therefore it's easiest to have Tokyo-ben speaking
characters to ensure the whole audience can understand. The reason why Kansai-
ben is the second most common is because a lot of comedians come from Osaka
and so most Japanese people are quite used to hearing Kansai-ben and can
understand it compared to others.

For reference, my mother's father's family lives in Aomori (most northern part
of Honshu) and neither my mother (native speaker) or I can understand those
relatives when they speak with the full dialect


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