About: Northern Izu Archipelago dialects

The Northern Izu Archipelago (or Islands) dialects (Japanese: 北部伊豆諸島方言 hokubu izu shoto hogen) are dialects of Japanese spoken on the inhabited islands north of Mikura-jima (Izu Ōshima, To-shima, Nii-jima, Shikine-jima, Kōzu-shima and Miyake-jima) in the Izu Archipelago, part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The various dialects are classified as Eastern Japanese, and are most similar to the Izu dialect of mainland Honshū, but as islands have also developed unique traits which can vary considerably from island to island. On islands with large numbers of migrants from the mainland, such as To-shima, there is increasing standardisation of speech towards the common standard.