Japanese Pronunciation: Rhythm (Exercises)

Here are some exercises to practice your sense of rhythm. We use haiku (俳句) and children's song to instill you the rhythm of mora-system.

日本語の「拍」のリズムに慣れることでより自然な発音をすることができ、また日本語の「音」がよりはっきりと聞こえるようになります！
By getting used to Japanese "haku (mora)", you will be able to pronounce Japanese more naturally, and you will be able to hear Japanese "sounds" more clearly.

[py]

I love this Japanese poetry recitation for Japanese learners. Thanks!!

[kanamenaito]

Here are the texts for the exercises (original, kana, romaji) and translations:

“Okuyama ni” by Sarumaru Dayū (奥山に — 猿丸大夫)

Original:
奥山に
紅葉踏みわけ
鳴く鹿の
声きく時ぞ
秋はかなしき

Kana:
おくやまに
もみぢふみわけ
なくしかの
こえきくときぞ
あきはかなしき

Romaji:
Okuyama ni
Momiji fumiwake
Naku shika no
Koe kiku toki zo
Aki wa kanashiki

Translation:
Wander deep into the mountains
Treading on the fallen leaves
Hear the sounds of deer calling
Autumn makes me sad

“Ichihatsu no” by Masaoka Shiki (いちはつの — 正岡子規)

Original:
いちはつの
花咲きいでて
我目には
今年ばかりの
春いかんとす

Kana:
いちはつの
はなさきいでて
わがめには
ことしばかりの
はるいかんとす

Romaji:
Ichihatsu no
Hana sakiidete
Waga me ni wa
Kotoshi bakari no
Haru ikan to su

Translation:
Iris in bloom
In my eyes
I see this year's
Spring is leaving

Antagatadokosa Song (あんたがたどこさ)

Original:
あんたがたどこさ　
肥後さ　
肥後どこさ
熊本さ
熊本どこさ
船場さ
船場山には狸がおってさ
それを猟師が鉄砲で撃ってさ
煮てさ
焼いてさ
食ってさ
それを木の葉でちょいと被せ

Translation:
Where you guys are from?
Higo
Where in Higo?
Kumamoto
Where in Kumamoto?
Senba
There was a raccoon dog in Mt. Senba
Hunter shot it with a gun
Boiled it
Grilled it
Ate it
And then hid it with leaves

Original kana:
あんたがたどこさ
ひごさ
ひごどこさ
くまもとさ
くまもとどこさ
せんばさ
せんばやまにはたぬきがおってさ
それをりょうしがてっぽうでうってさ
にてさ
やいてさ
くってさ
それをこのはでちょっとかぶせ

Lyrics as they are sang:
あんたがったどっこさ
ひーごさ
ひーごどっこさ
くーまもっとさ
くーまもっとどっこさ
せんばさ
せんーばやーまにーはたーぬきーがおってさ
それーをりょーしーがてっぽーでうってさ
にーてさ
やいてさ
くってさ
それーをこーのはーでちょっとかーぶーせ

Lyrics as they are sang (romaji):
Antagatta dokko sa
Hiigo sa
Hiigo dokko sa
Kuumamotto sa
Kuumamotto dokko sa
Semba sa
Semmba yaama nii wa taanukii ga ottesa
Soree o ryooshii ga teppoo de uttesa
Niite sa
Yaite sa
Kutte sa
Soree o koonohaa de chotto kaabuuse

[stMilcom]

This is pure gold for Japanese beginners like myself. Thanks for the hard work put into this video! Subbed

[lowyolei]

I have been learning Japanese for a long time, and this is useful, you are a really good teacher, never stop, one day you will be the best on youtubep

[CreativeCreatorCreates]

I taught myself Japanese in late 94/95 for a trip I took in 95. (With a second in 97/98) The internet was not anything of what it is today, so what I had were tapes and library rentals. I was able to mimic Mora but did not know that’s what it was. I am THRILLED to have found your videos and thank you for inspiring me to refresh my skills. 🙏✨

[nath]

your english accent is very good! I don't know if you studied music, but I noticed that you were in tune when explaining pitch accents in another video. I like your teaching approach! congrats!
edit: 9:07 I got to this part after I made the comment! sorry! 😅

[iamthestormthatisapproaching]

YOU ARE CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED, YOU NEED MORE FOLLOWERS!

[gaburincho]

Maybe it's interesting to point out that most of the lines start on beat (first mora), but the longest ones (せんーばやーまにーはたーぬきーがおってさ and それーをりょーしーがてっぽーでうってさ ）starts "upbeat" (on the third mora), not caring at all if the accent of the word matches with the rhythmic accent of the music (which is usually very important in western music). Actually it's quite complex to be a child song, as also the beats of the bars change constantly (4/4, 2/4, 3/4 and so on....). おもしろい

[izJeikii]

I’ve been practicing the children’s song a few times a day for the past 3 days, and I finally have perfect spacing between the sounds. It just clicks, also I feel like this also helped me pick out the longer sounds in other speech

[robertstump]

I think I must have gone through the first poem thirty times already. This is incredible. Thank you so very much for this. 
ありがとうございます、先生

[colinjames]

Your sense of humour is hilarious! Really enjoyed that lesson. 🙇🏻‍♂

[MeikamiB]

The algorithm that brought me here nailed it this time. I needed this kind of language training! Thank you for making these videos!

[kamokurii]

It’s a blessing to stumble upon your channel❤ I’ve been longing to be taught by native Japanese who can also speak in English so well, and so you are! I love the way you teach and sing! ❤Ah, I become remembered of my Dad. He ever sang a Japanese song for me with the same rhythm like the one you taught, Kaname san. But I don’t know the song title😅 Anyway, thank you very much for the lessons, and also for creating this channel!❤

[christophermoore]

Wow, thanks! Looks like going to have to practice on the song, I get confused when there’s so many long vowels😂

[alansheiness]

Just two videos and I am very impressed. I’m in my third week of an hour or so a day of three different well known apps plus YouTube bits. I’ve studied enough to have already been struggling to put my finger of what makes Japanese ‘tick’. I knew from thinking about our alphabet vs theirs that how these consonant-vowel pairs are each single alphabet characters is somehow linked to how differently our brains are forming sounds into syllables then words and then sentences. After watching two— only two— of your videos, it’s so obvious looking back. I promise you, being able to do the moras in a steady even beat is a whole level of pressure. In reading, it’s hard to read every (new to our brain) character without a hesitation to recall THAT character. In speaking, it will be to have such perfect recollection of each word that you can feed them from brain to mouth at a steady rate one mora at a time. Haha I’m in trouble because I can’t play drums and I can’t hold a music beat and this language requires rhythm to an internal metronome. I am in deep trouble. Two months before Tokyo touchdown.

[tom]

What a splendid pedagogical resource. Skilfully done. Thank you!

[jamesrichardson]

These are great exercises! Thank you very much!

[glanwen]

In my mother tongue Finnish we have long and short vowels and consonants, so that is not really been a problem for me in spoken language when learning Japanese. Although, when I have listened and sometimes tried to learn Japanese songs, separating words from each other has been challenging, the word rhythm is sometimes"off" or "upside down" to my ear. I believe it is due to Japanese having a pitch accent and not stress, and when been sang, the pitch is not always heard if the melody goes against it. As there is no stress, the word lines get blur to a foreign ear, if the melody and rhythm isn't 100% supporting the lyrics. Also in music a long note makes a short vowel sound long, which adds to the confusion, if the words are not all familiar.

[julchen]

Ich hab gerade deinen Kanal gefunden und bin begeistert!
Großartige Übungen hast du dir da ausgedacht, Lieder und Lyrik eignet sich wunderbar, um den Sprachrhythmus zu erlernen. Ich werde das Video bestimmt noch ein paar mal hören, bevor ich alles kann.
Wenn ich mir etwas wünschen dürfte, würde ich sagen: Bitte gerne noch mehr Lyrik!
Ich wünsche deinem Kanal viele weitere Follower und hoffe, du bleibst noch recht lange dabei.

[UmSimplesLeigo]

Nice work, your videos are really helpful, it feels like you are teaching right next to me