The Rainy Season

Areas where the rainy season is called “nyūbai” (入梅): 青森県、秋田県、宮城県、山形県内陸、福島県大部分、茨城県、栃木県、群馬県、埼玉県、東京都、千葉県、山梨県、長野県、静岡県、愛知県の大部分、岐阜県の一部

Areas where the rainy season is called “tsuyu” (梅雨): 山形県沿岸、新潟県下越、富山県西半、石川県、福井県大部分、滋賀県、三重県北中部、奈良県、和歌山県北半、京都府、大阪府、兵庫県、岡山県、鳥取県、島根県、広島県、山口県、香川県沿岸、愛媛県沿岸、福岡県、佐賀県玄海側、大分県、熊本

Areas where the rainy season is called “sazui” (サズイ): 新潟県中越上越、富山県東半 And “tsuiri” (ツイリ): 岐阜県大部分、愛知県一部、静岡県一部、福井県山間部、三重県南部、和歌山県南部

Areas where the rainy season is called “nagame” (ナガメ←ナガアメ): 岩手県に多く分布、福島県浜通にいくつか、奄美、沖縄本島、八重山（宮古島ではツユ）

Areas where the rainy season is called “nagashi” or “nagase” (ナガシ・ナガセ): 徳島県、高知県、香川県南部、愛媛県南部、大分県一部、宮崎県、鹿児島県、長崎県、熊本県大部分、佐賀県有明海側

Areas where the rainy season is called “hae” (ハエ): 三重県志摩地方 “Nagajike” (ナガジケ): 岩手県に多く分布、福島県・群馬県・長野県にもナガジケの回答あり “Zuri” (ズリ): 北海道道南にいくつか 北海道は、ニューバイ、ツユ、が混在。

Mosquito Bites

I shouldn't be surprised about this, but nevertheless am. According to a survey conducted by Weather News, the verb used to describe a mosquito bite varies from place to place. While 59% of the respondents said they were sasareta (刺された, be stabbed, stuck, pierced, or pricked) by a ka (蚊), or mosquito, a third (31%) said they were "eaten" by the pests: kuwareta (食われた). Another ten percent were "bitten" (噛まれた).

In the red prefectures (Kagoshima and Tokushima), over 40% of the respondents say they are "eaten by mosquitos". My wife, whose family hails from Kagoshima, will sometimes use kuwareta for emphasis or exaggeration.

Other dialectal forms include:

Kuttsukareru (くっつかれる, "stick to, adhere, cling") in Yamanashi Prefecture

Kajirareta (齧られた, "bite, chew, cling, stick") in Shizuoka

Kaburareta (かぶられた, perhaps related to "rash"?) in Yamaguchi

and

Gajan-ni kamarindō (蚊にカマリンドー) in Okinawa Prefecture

Shimekazari

Shime kazari are the New Year’s decorations you find hanging on front doors and gates during the first three to fifteen days of the New Year. Traditionally made with twisted rice straw, they are festooned with a daidai (bitter orange), fern fronds and gohei or shide (zigzag strips of white paper), the ornaments serve to welcome Toshigami-sama, the deity who brings a bountiful harvest and blessings for the new year.

I used to think that shime kazari were the same everywhere, but to my surprise--I really should be surprised anymore at this point--they vary from region to region, just like language.

Hi-Chew

My wife has a bad habit of sticking a chunk of Hi-Chew (ハイチュウ) taffy into my son's gob whenever he's in a mean and ornery mood. (Often!) It used to drive me crazy until I realized the wrappers featured different phrases in Japanese dialects. Recent wrappers had the following:

Ishikawa

おたべやす (Otabeyasu)

Meaning: 召し上がれ (Meshiagare: Please eat)

Aomori

ごしゃくよ (Goshakuyo)

Meaning: 怒る (Okoru: be/become angry)

Kyōto

まいどおきに (Maido okini)

Meaning: ありがとう (Arigatō: Thank you)

Kanagawa

うめーらー (Umērā)

Meaning: 美味しいでしょ (Oishii desho: Delicious, isn't it.)

Kagawa

もっちゅう？ (Mocchū)

Meaning: 持っている？ (Motteiru: Do you have . . .?)

Shimane

ぴっぴ (Pippi)

Meaning: うどん (Udon: udon noodles)

I'll post more of these phrases as my son eats the taffy.

Genki-Bai!

Finally, an answer to something I should have figured out long ago, but didn't! What is the difference between the copula (sentence endings) ~tai (〜たい) and ~bai (〜ばい).

~tai (〜たい) is equivalent to ~da (〜だ) or ~desu (〜です) in standard Japanese and can be translated into Japanese as is/be.

~bai (〜ばい), on the other hand, has a similar meaning, but is used for emphasis. It is similar to ~dayo (〜だよ) or ~desu (〜ですよ). Like adding a "hurumph" to the end of your sentence.

The pictures were taken during the Dontaku Festival in May of 2005, shortly after our big earthquake in March of that year. The mascots and blimp-like balloons all say "Genki-bai!" (元気ばい!), meaning "We're (as if Fukuoka) are doing great!"

If Tony the Tiger were from Hakata, he would just say "They're grrrreat!" He's say, "They're grrrreat-bai!"