A few months ago, my in-laws traveled back to their hometown of Kagoshima to attend a Buddhist memorial service for my wife’s grandfather. When my mother-in-law showed her brother’s wife a picture of my son, the woman exclaimed, “Majoka!” This, I would later learn, was how one said kawaii (cute) in the local dialect, Kagomma-ben. I have since heard that there are a number of variations of this word in Kagoshima depending on the sex of the child or age of the person. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I’ve put my notes.
Below is a list of different ways in which Japanese say that something is cute or adorable.
Hokkaidô
1. Hokkaidô
めんこい
Menkoi!
Tôhoku
2. Aomori
Tsugaru-ben
めごい
Megoi!
3. Iwate
めんこい
Menkoi!
(This is pretty much standard Japanese in the Tôhoku region of Japan.)
l4. Miyage
Sendai-ben
めんこい
Menkoi!
めんこいごだぁ～
Menkoi godah!
5. Akita
めんけー
Menkê!
(A shortened version of menkoi)
めんちょこい
Menchokoi!
(Spoken, supposedly in the heart of the southern mountain region.)
6. Yamagata
めんごい
Mengoi!
(In other areas, you can hear mengokoi or menkokoi.)
7. Fukushima
めごい
Megoi!
(Northern part of Fukushima prefecture.)
めんごいor めんげ～
Mengoi! Or, Mengê!
(Central part of the prefecture.)
めげえ
Megê!
(Used predominantly by men.)
Kantô
8. Ibaraki
9. Tochigi
10. Gunma
11. Saitama
12. Chiba
13. Tôkyô
14. Kanagawa
Chûbu
15. Niigata
みじょい
Mijoi-nô!
(Means kawaii-ne!)
かぁぅぇいの～
Kâuei-nô!
Sado-ben
いとしげー
Itoshigê!
(This dialect is spoken on Sado-jima, an island off the coast of Niigata.)
Kâueinô!
16. Toyama
かわらっしーい
Kawarasshi-i!
(Drawing out the final i is the point.)
17. Ishikawa
18. Fukui
19. Yamanashi
20. Nagano
Karuizawa-ben
かわらしーがや
Kawarashî-gaya!
(The gaya ending is common in Karuizawa.)
21. Gifu
22. Shizuoka
23. Aichi
Nagoya-ben
かわえー
Kawaê!
かわえーなも
Kawaê namo!
(Means, kawaii desu ne.)
Iida-ben
いっちー
(Carries the nuance of being beautiful.)
Kansai
24. Mie
かわええ
Kawê!
25. Shiga
26. Kyôto
27. Ôsaka
かえらし
Kaerashi!
いやー、かわいらし
Iyâ! Kawairashi!
28. Hyôgo
In Kôbe
かいらし
Kairashi!
29. Nara
30. Wakayama
Chûgoku
31. Tottori
32. Shimane
33. Okayama
かぅぇぇらしー
Kau-êrashî!
34. Hiroshima
かわいいのう
Kawaii-nô!
(Adding nô is key to making it sound like Hiroshima-ben.)
35. Yamaguchi
Shikoku
36. Tokushima
37. Kagawa
38. Ehime
Iyo-ben (in central Ehime)
かわいい
Kawaii!
(Standard Japanese)
かわゆい
Kawayui!
かわゆ～いなぁって
Kawayû inâtte!
(Apparently this is said when something or someone is exceptionally cute.)
39. Kôchi
Tosa-ben
おぼこい
Obokoi!
(Cute in a childish way.)
Kyûshû
40. Fukuoka
Hakata-ben
あいらしい
Airashii!
あいらしかぁ～
Airashikâ!
(More common among the older generation)
Chikugô-ben
えーらしか
Êrashika!
(Southern Fukuoka prefecture)
41. Saga
やーらしか
Yârashika!
(A corruption of kawairashii)
42. Nagasaki
Iki-ben
かわいかねぇ
Kawaika-nê!
Sasebo
やーらしか
Yârashika!
(Sounds like the Japanese word for lascivious and disgusting, iyarashii, so use with caution.)
Shimabara-ben
みぞか
Mizoka!
43. Kumamoto
むぞらしか
Muzoraka!
むぞか
Muzoka!
44. Ôita
えーらしい
Êrashii!
(A corruption of kawairashii)
45. Miyazaki
むじい
Mujii!
(As in the following, ano ko wa tege mujii. (That girl’s so cute.))
もぞらし
Mozorashi!
46. Kagoshima
もじょか
Mojokâ!
(This is the word that got this whole investigation started.)
もぜ・むぜ
Moze! or Muze!
もぞらしか
Mozorashika!
Okinawa
47. Okinawa
ちゅらかーぎー
Churakāgī!
Most Japanese are familiar with chura-san, which means a beautiful woman. Here chura means “beautiful” and kāgī means “face”. The opposite of churakāgī is yanakāgī. These words are still in wide use today in Okinawa.