Dialect Tap Map
A quiz where you read a line in a Japanese dialect and tap, on a map, the prefecture where it is spoken.
How to play
- Choose a level and press Start. There are 10 questions.
- A dialect line appears at the top, with romaji and its meaning in English.
- Tap the prefecture on the map where you think the line is spoken. You can change your pick before you confirm.
- Press Confirm to see the answer. The correct prefecture gets a green outline, and your pick gets an orange one. A short explanation follows.
About the map
The map is a "tile map": each prefecture is a square of the same size. It does not show real positions, shapes or sizes accurately, only roughly where things are. Hokkaido is at the top and Okinawa is at the bottom left. Prefecture names are shown as three-letter codes; the full name appears under the map when you tap one.
The three levels
- Easy: Only well-known dialects appear. Prefecture codes are shown, and each region has its own color.
- Normal: Some less famous dialects appear too. Codes are shown, but there are no region colors.
- Demon: Harder dialects appear as well, and no names are shown on the tiles. Only the tile positions help you. When you tap one, its name appears below the map.
Score and titles
Choosing the exact prefecture earns 100 points. If you miss, you lose 25 points for each tile of distance from the correct prefecture, and you get 0 points from 4 tiles away. A neighboring prefecture, for example, earns 75 points. Some dialects have several correct prefectures. In that case, any of them earns full points, and the score is based on the distance to the nearest correct one. The maximum score for 10 questions is 1000. Your score decides your title, from "Lost traveler" to "Dialect master". Your best score is saved in your browser only, and is not sent to any server. You can copy your result as text with the "Copy result" button.
Tips
- Look at the sentence endings. Endings like "-zeyo", "-batten" and "-dappe" give a lot away.
- Learn the words for "very". "Namara", "dera", "buchi", "gabai" and "tege" all mean "very", each in a different area.
- Use food clues. A food or local specialty in the sentence can point to the area.
- When unsure, pick the middle. If you only know the region, choosing the middle of it makes a big miss less likely.
- Read the explanations. After each answer, the explanation tells you what the word means and where it is used.
FAQ
How accurate is the dialect classification?
Dialect areas do not stop neatly at prefecture borders. Here, the correct answer is the prefecture (or prefectures) where the word is best known. The same word may be used in nearby prefectures too, which is why some questions have several correct answers and why nearby prefectures earn partial points.
Is there sound?
No. It is a quiz you read. The English version shows romaji for each line.
Are the questions the same every time?
The 10 questions are picked at random each time. The level decides which dialects can be picked.