Lock that opens when Osaka dialect is spoken unveiled at Expo 2025
One of the more impressive pavilions at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo is the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion. The overarching theme of having your future self digitally generated is cool, but along the way is a series of technological works in progress that changes over the course of the entire Expo. One such exhibit briefly displayed from 27 May to 2 June is the Key Voice: Open Sesame World by Advanced Media and West Inx.
Advanced Media is the developer of the AmiVoice Japanese voice recognition software and West Inx is one of the oldest lock makers in the country. Noticing that the waveform of a voice recording looks a lot like the cuts of a key, they got the idea to develop a lock that opens with a specific vocal pattern. But in honor of the Expo, they didn't use just any vocal pattern, they used the Osakan dialect, known as Osakaben.
I always liken Osakaben to something like the way English is spoken in Staten Island, New York, not in any grammatical or specific linguistic way. It's more the feel of it, in that it can superficially come across as a little dopey and blunt sounding, but it has a lot of charm and character too.
When using Key Voice, visitors will be given the choice of three difficulty levels and then must recite one of 25 Osakaben phrases. If spoken in the proper Osakan style, a small model door will open. It's deceptively hard though, because when speaking Osakaben intonation can be very important.
A good example is the classic ' nandeyanen ' which means something like 'What the hell?' and has a lot of the same nuances as 'oh, come on' in that it can be used to express frustration when your Internet cuts out, playful modesty when someone flatters you, or indignation when you get cut off on the highway. The good news for English speakers is that saying ' nandeyanen ' with pretty much the same intonation as 'oh, come on' in any of the three scenarios would be a pretty good fit.
Another phrase is ' maido ookini ' which is a rather folksy way of saying something along the lines of 'thanks again, much obliged' and commonly heard from the staff in shops. This has more of a sing-songy intonation, going down two steps on mai-do , up one step on oo (pronounced like 'oh') and down two again on ki-ni .
▼ Just saying 'ookini' ('おおきに') straight won't open any doors for you here.
Although not mentioned, I have to assume ' honma ' and/or ' honmani ' would be included as well. These literally translate to 'Really?' and are used in the same way to express surprise at hearing something or confirming something is true, again with a similar intonation to English. However, one additional use is sort of like 'Why I oughta…' again with a very similar intonation to the English phrase where you stretch it out on the vowel sounds to express anger comedically while shaking your fist, like ' Hooooooonmaaaaaniiiii… '
If you can get those, that's a good start but you'll also have to use them in context. In the video above, one of the intermediate-level phrases is ' Ke, bossabosa yakara kukurana akanwa. ' which means 'My hair's all kinds of messed up, so I oughta tie it up.'
Unfortunately, its time at the Expo was very limited, but as luck would have it, Key Voice can still be tried out at West Inx's showroom in the Imabashi area of Osaka. There's still lots of cool things to be seen in the Osaka Health Pavilion though, and I also got word that Glico has just started handing out their new rice candies at the nearby Earth Mart pavilion, so be sure to check out both of those places if you go.
Source: Kyodo via Livedoor News, PR Times, My Game News Flash
Images: PR Times
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