The Languages of Japan

The Japanese language is unique in the fact that they have different dialects within the likeness of the Japanese language. These dialects are different slangs of the Japanese language that differs between regions of Japanese, and are identified by the region’s name along with the adding word “-ben” at the back. 

Amongst the long list of Japanese dialects, the two of the most famous are the Kansai-ben and the Kanto-ben.

Here's an example of how they differ

As can be seen from the video, the words that mean "Do Not" differ from each dialect.

But to make the distinction, the most prominent and commonly used amongst the two would be the Kanto-ben, which is also the commissioned as the official Japanese language over other dialects. 

The Japanese Writing system is made up of 4 methods of writing, namely Kanji, Katakana, Hiragana and more recently adopted Romaji.

Kanji is in actuality the very letters of the classical Chinese letters. This can be explained by historical facts: The Japanese did not have their own writing system before the 4th century, and when Chinese books were brought into Japan upon the beginning of the 4th century, the Japanese soon acknowledged classical Chinese as the official written language.

Further down the timeline, the Japanese found classical Chinese imperfect as it was unable to represent the verbs and tenses that the Japanese language use in varying scenarios. Thus the Japanese improvised their own writing system to incorporate their phonetic values: the Hiragana and Katakana. These written syllables were deemed as effective and representative of the Japanese language. To date, both still used in modern day Japan in unison, although Katakana is the main used writing system.

Lastly, the Romaji was adopted in lieu of western influences. It uses a Romanized system, where the vowels in the language are written in roman letters to reflect and pronounce the Katakana and Hiragana syllables.

Here’s a written example of the Japanese syllables for the phrase “Japanese Language”
Kanji:       日本語
Hiragana:  にほんご
Katakana: ニホンゴ
Romaji:     Nihongo

Reference:

The Japanese Writing System. Retrieved on 8th December 2010, from http://www.cjvlang.com/Writing/writjpn.html

Ager (2010) Japanese (Nihongo). Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese.htm