Ohayō gozaimasu basically means “You’ve woken up nice and early.” In some places in Japan, instead of saying a variation of “Ohayō”, people will ask, “Have you woken up?” (Okitaka?) or “Did you sleep well?” (Nemurimashitaka?)

.

 

Hokkaidō

 

           Hokkaidō

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

                            

Tōhoku 

 

         Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures

                            おはよーがす

                            Ohayō gasu

 

 

        Aomori

                            おはよーごし

                            Ohayō goshi

 

 

                   Akita

                            おはよーがんす

                            Ohayō gansu

                            The polite way of saying ohayō is, of course, by adding gozaimasu, the polite form of aru and the way to say gozaimasu differs from region to region as you will see below.

 

                            はえねしか

                            Hayene shika

                            This is a somewhat polite way to say “Good morning”.

 

                            おぎだがー?

                            Ogidagā?

                            Meaning: “Have you woken up?”

 

                            おはよー

                     Ohayō

 

 

         Iwate

                            おはよがんす

                            Ohayo gansu

 

                   Yamagata & Fukushima

                            はやえなっす

                            Hayae nasu

 

                            はやえなっす

                     Hayae nassu!

 

 

         Miyagi

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō

 

 

 

Kantō

 

         General・Tōkyō

                            おはよーござんす

                            Ohayō gozansu

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Tochigi

                            おはよーござんす

                            Ohayō gozansu

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Ibaraki

                            おはよ

                            Ohayo

 

 

         Gunma

                            はやかったむし

                            Hayakattamushi

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

                  Saitama

                            おはよーござんす

                            Ohayō gozansu

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Chiba

                            はえーよ

                            Haēyo

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Kanagawa

                            おはよっす

                            Ohayossu

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Hachijō-jima (Tōkyō), an island about 300 km southwest of Tōkyō with about 7,500 people

                            やすみやろわかーい

                            Yasumi yarowakāi

 

                            やすみやろあかーい

                            Yasumi yaroakāi

 

 

         Saitama

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

 

Chūbu

 

         Niigata

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Toyama

                            おきやっさったかい？

                            Okiyassattakai?

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Ishikawa

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

                   

 

         Fukui

                            おはよさん

                     Ohayo san!

 

 

         Yamanashi

                            おはよーごいす

                     Ohayō goisu

 

 

                   Nagano

                            おきたかやー

                            Okitakayā

                            This means “Have you woken up?” (起きましたか？) See Yamagata, Toyama, Tottori and Kagoshima.

 

                            おはよーごわす

                            Ohayō gowasu

 

                            おはよーござんす

                     Ohayō gozansu!

 

 

                   Gifu

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

                                     

 

                   Shizuoka

                            いあんばいです

                     Ianbai desu

 

 

                   Aichi

                            はいなも

                     Hainamo

 

 

 

Kansai

         Kinki

                            おはよーさん

                            Ohayõ san

                            San is short for sama. In a similar manner, omedetō gozaimasu becomes omedetōsan. A more polite way to say this is omedetōsan degozaimasu.

 

 

         Kyōto

                            おはよーさんどす

                            Ohayõ sandosu

                            Dosu is Kyōto dialect for desu.

 

                            おはよーさん

                            Ohayõ san

 

 

         Nara

                            おはよーさん

                            Ohayõ san

 

 

                   Shiga

                            はやいなー

                            Hayai nā

 

                            おはよーさん

                            Ohayõ san

 

 

                   Wakayama

                            はやいなー

                            Hayai nā

 

                            はやいのー

                            Hayainõ

 

 

         Ōsaka

                            おはよーさん

                            Ohayõ san

 

 

         Mie

                            はやいのー

                            Hayainõ

                            By removing the o- from ohayō, you get a more friendly-sounding or familiar hayō. See also Yamagata, Shiga, Tottori.

 

                            はやいなー

                     Hayainā

 

 

         Hyōgo

                            おはよーさん

                            Ohayõ san

 

 

 

Chūgoku

 

         Tottori      

                            はやえのー

                            Hayaenõ

 

                            おきっさったかい？

                            Okissattakai?

 

                            おはよーござんす

                     Ohayō gozansu!

 

 

                   Shimane

                            おひんなりました

                            Ohin narimashita

 

                            おはよ

                     Ohayo

 

 

         Okayama

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

                   Hiroshima

                            おはよーござんす

                     Ohayō gozansu!

 

 

                   Yamaguchi

                            おひんなりました

                            Ohin narimashita

 

 

 

Shikoku

 

         Tokushima

 

 

         Kagawa

                            はやいのー

                            Hayainõ

 

                            おはよーござんす

                     Ohayō gozansu!

 

 

         Ehime

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Kōchi

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

 

Kyūshū

 

        Fukuoka

                            おはようござーす

                            Ohayō gozāsu

 

                            おはよーござす

                            Ohayō gozasu

 

 

         Saga

                            おはよーござす

                            Ohayō gozasu

 

                            おはよーござんした

                     Ohayō gozanshita

 

 

         Nagasaki

                            おはよーござりやす

                            Ohayō gozariyasu

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Kumamoto

                            おはよーござります

                            Ohayō gozarimasu

 

                            おはよーござるます

                            Ohayō gozarumasu

 

 

         Ōita

                            はえなー

                            Haenā

 

                            おはよー

                            Ohayō 

 

 

         Miyazaki

                            はやえのー

                            Hayaenõ

                            

                            はえのー

                            Haenõ

 

                            Nassu, nā, nō above are all ways of saying desu ne, or “It’s early, isn’t it?”

 

         Kagoshima

                            はよめがさめやした

                            Hayo me ga sameyashita

 

                            こんちゃらごあす

                     Konchara goasu!

 

         Kagoshima (Koshiki-jima)

                            おきやいもしたな

                            Okiyai moshitana

 

 

 

Okinawa

 

         Northern Okinawa

                            ふきみそーち

                            Fukimisōchi

 

         Southern Okinawa

                            うきみそーち

                            Ukimisōchi

 

         Miyako-jima

                            うきゅーうらんま

                            Ukyū uranma

 

         Yae-jima

                            うきょりったねーら

                            Ukyorittanēra