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.