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Why are the words 「とうもろこし」 and 「とうきび」 so commonly used in Hokkaido, whereas 「コーン」 seems to be more commonly used on the other islands of Japan?

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  • I don't know the real answer, but surely this follows the general pattern that people making the stuff use a familiar word, and people eating it use a foreign, fancy-sounding word. For example, English "cow" and "beef".
    – Avery
    Commented Jun 13, 2015 at 1:49

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As a main islander, I can assure you that almost no one down here would call a whole ear of corn コーン. We actually use とうもろこし for that 99% of the time .

What we call コーン in Honshu are:

Corn "kernels" sold canned or frozen, corn as a side dish, corn as a topping on pizza or ramen, etc.

I have been to Hokkaido 12-13 times, but my impression is that this is not any different up there except for the fact that quite a few Dosanko call an ear of corn とうきび instead of とうもろこし.

「[道産子]{どさんこ}」 means "Hokkaido person(s)".

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    Here in Hokkaido I do see 「とうもろこし」 on restaurant menus for corn as a topping, such as for ramen, soup curry, etc. and for foods that include corn as an ingredient such as おみやげ snacks/sweets, not only for corn-on-the-cob.
    – seijitsu
    Commented Jun 13, 2015 at 6:43

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