Dialectal term from the Tōhoku region, equivalent to standard Japanese 子供 or 童 (わらべ). Often encountered in folklore contexts, such as 座敷童 (ざしきわらし).
See also: 童 (わらべ)
The zashiki-warashi is a child-like spirit that appears in Tōhoku folklore.
童 (わらべ) is an archaic, literary word for 'child' found in poetry and set phrases, whereas 童 (わらし) is the same meaning used as a living dialect word in Tōhoku.
counter for people
Standard kanji spelling for this dialectal word.
Alternate kanji spelling, less common.
Dialectal variant of 童 (わらべ), with the final syllable shifting from べ to し, a feature of Tōhoku dialects.