東京特許許可局 (Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku)

Meaning: A machine-gun of 'kyo' / 'kyoku' sounds.

Language: Japanese

Literally: Tokyo Patent Approval Bureau.

Category: Fiendish

Origin: A staple of Japanese twister lists.

More tongue twisters — Fiendish

• Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
• 隣の客はよく柿食う客だ (Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da) — A tricky spiral on ka/ki/ku that accelerates as you try to keep the syllables distinct.
• Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril; rápido ruedan los carros sobre los rieles del ferrocarril. — The definitive Spanish rr drill — unrelenting double-r from start to finish.
• Parangaricutirimícuaro — Not a sentence but a single word — a legendary 22-letter pronunciation challenge from a r…
• Didon dîna, dit-on, du dos d'un dodu dindon dont le dodu dos dodine. — A 'd' / 'din' / 'dod' avalanche that seems designed to jam the tongue in third gear.
• Hinter Hermann Hannes Haus hängen hundert Hemden raus. — A relentless 'h' aspirate drill — every word opens with the same breathy attack.

More Japanese tongue twisters

• 赤パジャマ黄パジャマ茶パジャマ (Aka pajama, ki pajama, cha pajama) — A rapid-fire drill on colour words; the syllable shift from aka/ki/cha trips the tongue b…
• 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 o kaita) — A sustained 'b' and long-vowel drill — bōzu/byōbu/jōzu demand precise mouth control.
• なまむぎ なまごめ なまたまご (Nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago) — A nimble warm-up for the Japanese 'na / ma / ge' syllables.

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