Japanese tongue twisters (早口言葉, hayakuchi kotoba) are sayings that are meant to make you stumble over your words. Just like an English tongue twister, a Japanese tongue twister has no real meaning and is meant to be spoken as fast as possible. In fact, 早口言葉 literally means, “fast-mouthed words.” A famous English tongue twister is “Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.” Another good (but long) one is “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?”
Tongue twisters are hard enough to say in your native language, so you can bet they are even harder in a foreign language! Our native Japanese teacher, Masako, has made a recording of each one to help you practice. But don’t feel bad if you don’t get it right away, even Masako had to try them a few times!
We left out the romaji for these slippery sayings, so see if you can go just from the hiragana. Once you try it, then listen to Masako
Top Ten Japanese Tongue Twisters
1. 生麦生米生卵
(なまむぎ なまごめ なまたまご)
This is one of the most popular tongue twisters in Japan that everyone will know!
“Namamugi, namagome, namatamago.”
2. スモモも 桃も 桃のうち
すももも ももも もものうち
“Sumomomo momomo momonouchi”
3. 坊主が びょうぶに 上手な 坊主の 絵を かいた
ぼうずが びょうぶに じょうずな ぼうずの えを かいた
“Bouzu gabyoubu nijouzuna bouzuno ewo kaita”
4. この竹垣に 竹立て掛けたのは 竹立て掛けたかったから、竹立て掛けた
この たけがきに たけ たてかけたのは たけ たてかけたかったから たけ たてかけた
“Kono takegaki ni take tatekaketa no wa take tatekaketakattakara , take tatekaketa.”
5. 庭には二羽鶏がいる
にわ には にわとり が いる
“Niwa ni wa niwa tori ga iru”
There is also another, more complicated version of this one: “In [Mr.] Niwa’s garden, two chickens suddenly ate a crocodile.” But see if you can do the easier one first!
にわのにわにはにわのにわとりわにわかにわにをたべた
6. 隣の客はよく柿食う客だ
となりの きゃくは よく かき くう きゃくだ
“Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da.”
7. 東京特許許可局許可局長
とうきょう とっきょ きょかきょく きょか きょくちょう
“Tokyo tokka kyoka kyoku kyoka kyokucho.”
8. かえる ぴょこぴょこ みぴょこぴょこ
あわせて ぴょこぴょこ むぴょこぴょこ
“There are 3 frogs hopping. Here come another 3 hopping frogs. In total, there are 6 frogs hopping.”
9. 赤巻紙青巻紙黄巻紙
あかまきがみ あおまきがみ きまきがみ
“Akamakigami aomakigami kimakigami.”
10. この釘は、ひきぬきにくい釘だ
このくぎは ひきぬきにくい くぎだ
“Kono kugi wa hikinuki nikui kugi da.”
I don’t understand how you translate #8. pyokopyoko is an onomatopoeic word, mimicking the sound of a jumping frog. The only way I can currently understand it, is as:
Frog jumps
3 jumps
in total it jumps
6 jumps
Since obvious words get omitted in Japanese, could you provide the sentence with all omitted words as to make it clear how you arrive at your translation?
it is really cool
Thank you Nihongo Master, for creating such a great collection of Japanese tongue twisters with audio and visuals. I really enjoyed trying them. I just wonder why you used “ha” in romaji for the は particle instead of “wa”. It makes reading them, for those people who can’t read the Japanese script, confusing.
Glad you liked this article! We didn’t notice that typo error, thanks for mentioning it!