Japanese tongue twisters

This is a page of Japanese tongue twisters (早口言葉; hayakuchi kotoba).

Use these tongue twisters to improve flexibility in the mouth, lips, and jaw. Tongue twisters help improve diction and enunciation, as well as the ability to properly form vowels in order to produce a clearer tone.

Beginner tongue twisters

生麦生米生卵

Nama-mugi, nama-gome, nama-tamago

Raw wheat, raw rice, raw egg

Notes: This one tries to trick you into saying 生ゴミ; nama-gomi; "raw/wet garbage" in the middle

赤巻紙青巻紙黄巻紙

Aka-makigami, ao-makigami, ki-makigami

Red rolled paper, blue rolled paper, yellow rolled paper

隣の客はよく柿食う客だ

Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kū kyaku da

The customer next to me is a customer who eats a lot of persimmons.

東京特許許可局の局長さん

Tōkyō Tokkyo Kyoka-kyoku no Kyokuchō-san

The Director of the Tokyo Special Patent Approval Office

バスガス爆発ブスバスガイド

basu gasu bakuhatsu, busu basu gaido

Bus gas explosion, ugly bus guide

裏庭には二羽、庭には二羽、鶏がいる

uraniwa niwa niwa, niwa niwa niwa, niwatori ga iru

In the back yard there are two chickens, and in the front yard there are two chickens

すももも桃も桃のうち

Sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi

Plums and peaches are both in the peach family.

赤パジャマ、青パジャマ、黄パジャマ

Aka-pajama, ao-pajama, ki-pajama

Red pajamas, blue pajamas, yellow pajamas

Notes: This one tries to trick you into saying 黄ばんじゃった; kibanjatta; "get yellow (with age)" at the end.

Intermediate tongue twisters

坊主が屏風に上手に坊主の絵を描いた

Bōzu ga byōbu ni jōzu ni bōzu no e wo kaita

The monk drew a picture of a monk on the folding screen very well.

蛙ぴゃこぴゃこ三ぴゃこぴゃこ合わせてぴゃこぴゃこ六ぴゃこぴゃこ

Kaeru pyokopyoko mi-pyokopyoko awasete pyokopyoko mu-pyokopyoko

Frog ribbits, three ribbits, together they ribbit, six ribbits

鹿もカモシカも鹿である、しかしアシカはたしか鹿ではない

Shika mo kamoshika mo shika de aru, shikashi ashika wa tashika shika de wa nai

Both deer and serrows are deer, however sea lions are surely not deer.

お綾や母親にお謝り

O-Aya ya, Hahaoya ni oayamari

O-Aya, apologize to your mother.

この杭の釘は引き抜きにくい釘だ

Kono kui no kugi wa hikinuki-nikui kugi da

The nail in this stake is a nail that's hard to pull out.

引き抜きにくい挽き肉は引き抜きにくい温い肉

Hikinuki-nikui hikiniku wa hikinuki-nikui nukuiniku

The mincemeat that's hard to pull out is lukewarm meat that's hard to pull out

新人歌手新春シャンソンショー

Shinjin kashu, shinshun shanson shō

The new singer's New Year's chanson show

買った肩叩き機高かった

Katta kata-tataki-ki takakatta

The shoulder massager I bought was expensive

右目右耳、右耳右目

Migi me migi mimi, migi mimi migi me

Right eye, right ear; right ear, right eye

Advanced tongue twisters

竹薮に竹立て掛けたのは竹立て掛けたかったからだ

Takeyabu ni take tatekaketa no wa take tatekaketakattakara da

I put a bamboo against the bamboo bush because I wanted to put a bamboo against the bamboo bush

豚が豚を打ったら打たれた豚が打った豚を打ったので打った豚と打たれた豚がぶっ倒れた

Buta ga buta wo buttara butareta buta ga butta buta wo butta no de butta buta to butareta buta ga buttaoreta

When a pig hit a pig, the pig that was hit hit the pig that had hit it, so the pig that hit and the pig that was hit both collapsed.

分かった？分からない？分かったら分かったと、分からなかったら分からなかったと言わなかったら、分かったか分からなかったか、分からないじゃないか。分かった？

Wakatta? Wakaranai? Wakattara wakatta to, wakaranakattara wakaranakatta to iwanakattara, wakatta ka wakaranakatta ka wakaranai janai ka. Wakatta?

Did you get it? Did you not? If you did, tell me you did, if you didn't, tell me you didn't, or I'll never know whether you did or not. Got it?

Notes: Youtube video

瓜売りが瓜売りに来て瓜売れず売り売り帰る瓜売りの声

Uriuri ga uri urini kite uri urezu uri uri kaeru uriuri no koe

The voice of the melon vender who came to sell melons, but sold no melons, so went home selleing melons

武具馬具、武具馬具、三武具馬具、あわせて武具馬具、六武具馬具

bugubagu, bugubagu, mibugubagu, awasete bugubagu, mubugubagu

Weapons and horse gear, weapons and horse gear, three sets of weapons and horse gear; all together, weapons and horse gear, six sets of weapons and horse gear

ラバかロバかロバかラバか分からないので、ラバとロバを比べたらロバかラバか分からなかった

raba ka roba ka, roba ka raba ka wakaranai node, raba to roba wo kurabetara, roba ka raba ka wakaranakatta

A mule or a donkey, a donkey or a mule I couldn't tell, so I compared a mule and a donkey, but a mule or a donkey I still couldn't tell.

客が柿食や飛脚が柿食う飛脚が柿食や客も柿食う 客も飛脚もよく柿食う客飛脚

kyaku ga kakiku ya hikyaku ga kakikuu hikyaku ga kakiku ya kyaku mo kakikuu kyaku mo hikyaku mo yoku kakikuu kyakuhikyaku

When the customer eats persimmons, the courier eats persimmons; when the courier eats persimmons, the customer also eats persimmons. Both the customer and the courier are customer-couriers who often eat persimmons.

斜め七十七度の並びで泣く泣く嘶くナナハン七台難なく並べて長眺め

Naname nanajūnana-do no narabi de nakunaku inanaku nanahan nanadai nannaku narabete naganagame

In a 77-degree diagonal line, seven 750cc motorcycles, tearfully neighing, are lined up without difficulty for a long look.

Notes: Also the "cat speak" version: にゃにゃめにゃにゃじゅうにゃにゃどのにゃらびでにゃくにゃくいにゃにゃくにゃにゃはんにゃにゃだいにゃんにゃくにゃらべてにゃがにゃがめ

Notes

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See also

• Resources for Learning Japanese
• MONO NO AWARE "かむかもしかもにどもかも！" (Official Music Video) - Song with tongue twisters as lyrics (YouTube)
• TUFS Language Modules pronunciation practice - Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• 早口言葉ビンゴ - Funabashi City
• 早口言葉（伝統的な物） - Ishikawa Prefectural Association of Speech Pathologists (石川県言語聴覚士会)
• 日本語授業が面白くなる！難しくない早口言葉20選 - Nihogo Study
• 子どもと楽しめる早口言葉56選 - Hoikurashi
• Tongue-Twisters / Hayakuchi Kotoba - Makoto Plus