Japanese writing system facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Japanese
This Japanese novel uses kanji kana majiri bun, which means it mixes kanji and kana. This is the most common way to write modern Japanese. Small Ruby characters, called furigana, are also used above kanji to show how they are pronounced. This text is written in the traditional tategaki style, which means it reads down the columns and from right to left. This book was published in 1908.
Type	mixed logographic (Kanji), syllabic (hiragana and katakana)
Spoken languages	Japanese language Ryukyuan languages Hachijō language
Time period	4th century AD to present
Parent systems	(See kanji and kana) Japanese
Unicode range	U+4E00–U+9FBF Kanji U+3040–U+309F Hiragana U+30A0–U+30FF Katakana
ISO 15924	Jpan
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The modern Japanese writing system (Nihongo no hyōki taikei) is quite unique. It uses a mix of three main types of characters. These are kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Almost every Japanese sentence you read will have a combination of these. This makes the Japanese writing system one of the most complex in the world.

Kanji are characters borrowed from Chinese writing. They represent whole words or ideas. For example, the kanji for "mountain" means mountain. Most kanji have several ways to be pronounced. Japanese students learn over 2,000 common kanji in school.

Hiragana and katakana are different. They are both syllabaries, meaning each character represents a sound, like "ka" or "su". They don't have meaning on their own. Hiragana is used for native Japanese words and grammar parts. Katakana is mainly used for words borrowed from other languages, like "computer" or "London".

Sometimes, Japanese also uses the Latin alphabet, which is what English uses. This is called rōmaji. You might see it for things like "FBI" or when typing on a computer. Numbers are usually written using Arabic numerals, just like in English.

Understanding Japanese Scripts

Kanji: Characters with Meaning

Kanji (漢字) are special characters that came from China. They are like pictures that represent ideas or words. For example, the kanji for "tree" looks a bit like a tree. The Japanese started using these characters around the 5th century AD.

Kanji are used for many important words. These include most nouns, like 川 (kawa, meaning "river") and 学校 (gakkō, meaning "school"). They also form the main parts of verbs and adjectives. For instance, 見 is the core of 見る (miru, meaning "to see").

Many Japanese names and place names also use kanji. Examples are 田中 (Tanaka) and 東京 (Tōkyō, meaning "Tokyo"). Sometimes, the same word can be written with different kanji. This depends on its exact meaning in a sentence. For example, naosu (to fix) is 治す for curing a person, but 直す for fixing an object.

Most kanji have different pronunciations. These are called on'yomi and kun'yomi. On'yomi sounds are similar to the original Chinese pronunciation. Kun'yomi sounds are from native Japanese words that have the same meaning. Sometimes, a word made of kanji has a special pronunciation that doesn't follow these rules. These are often explained with small hiragana characters called furigana.

Kana: Characters for Sounds

Kana (仮名) are sets of characters that represent sounds. They are like an alphabet, but each character is a whole syllable. Kana characters were created by simplifying kanji over many years. There are two main types of kana: hiragana and katakana.

Hiragana: Smooth and Flowing

Hiragana (平仮名) characters look round and flowing. They were mostly developed by ladies of the Japanese imperial court during the Heian period (794–1185). They used hiragana for writing letters and stories, like the famous The Tale of Genji.

Hiragana is used for several important things:

• Grammar endings: These are called okurigana. They are added to verbs and adjectives to show tense or other grammar rules. For example, る in 見る (miru, "see").
• Small connecting words: These are called joshi. They act like prepositions in English, showing relationships between words.
• Words without kanji: Some words don't have a kanji. Others might have kanji that are too difficult for the reader, like in children's books.
• Pronunciation guides: Furigana are small hiragana characters written above or next to kanji. They help children or foreign learners read difficult kanji.

Sometimes, a word that usually has kanji can be written in hiragana instead. This can make the word feel softer or more emotional. For example, kawaii (cute) can be かわいい (hiragana) or 可愛い (kanji).

Katakana: Sharp and Angular

Katakana (片仮名) characters look more angular and sharp. They were created around the 9th century by Buddhist monks. They used parts of kanji as a kind of shorthand to help them read Chinese texts.

Katakana has specific uses:

• Foreign words: It's mainly used for words and names borrowed from other languages. For example, コンピュータ (konpyūta, "computer") and ロンドン (Rondon, "London").
• Animal and plant names: Many scientific and common names for animals and plants are written in katakana. For example, ネコ (neko, "cat").
• Sound words: Words that imitate sounds, like ワンワン (wan-wan, "woof-woof"), are written in katakana. These are called onomatopoeia.
• Emphasis: Katakana can be used to make words stand out, similar to using italic text in English. It can also show that someone is speaking with a foreign accent.

Rōmaji: Japanese in Latin Letters

Rōmaji is the way Japanese words are written using the Latin alphabet. This is the same alphabet used for English. The Japanese first learned about the Latin alphabet in the 16th century from Portuguese sailors.

Rōmaji is used for:

• Abbreviations: Like "NATO" or "UFO".
• International use: For Japanese names or company brands on passports or business cards.
• Foreign words: Sometimes, foreign words are kept in their original Latin alphabet form.
• Computer input: When typing Japanese on a computer, people often type in rōmaji first, and then the computer converts it to kanji or kana.

Arabic Numerals: Numbers in Japanese

Just like in English, Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, etc.) are commonly used in Japanese. They are especially used for phone numbers, addresses, and counting things. These numbers also came to Japan around the 16th century.

How Japanese is Written

Direction of Writing

Japanese can be written in two main directions:

• Traditional vertical writing (tategaki): Characters are written in columns from top to bottom. The columns then go from right to left across the page. This style came from China.
• Modern horizontal writing (yokogaki): Characters are written in rows from left to right, just like in English. This is common in many modern books and digital texts.

Yokogaki is horizontal writing, reading from left to right, similar to English.

When a book is printed in tategaki, it opens with its spine on the right. A book in yokogaki opens with its spine on the left.

Spacing and Punctuation

One interesting thing about Japanese writing is that it usually doesn't use spaces between words. Readers figure out where words begin and end based on the meaning.

Japanese uses its own punctuation marks. The full stop (。) and comma (、) are similar to English ones. However, commas can be used more freely. The question mark (？) and exclamation mark (！) are used in informal writing. Quotation marks look like 「 ... 」.

Sometimes, a special dot called a nakaguro (・) is used. It separates words in foreign names, like ビル・ゲイツ (Biru Geitsu, Bill Gates). It can also separate Japanese words to make them clearer.

A Brief History of Japanese Writing

Early Days: Chinese Characters Arrive

The first time Japanese people saw Chinese characters was very early, possibly in the 1st century AD. However, it wasn't until around the 4th century AD that people in Japan started to understand and use them more widely.

At first, Chinese characters were used to write in Classical Chinese. Over time, a system called kanbun developed. This allowed Japanese people to read Chinese texts and understand them in a Japanese way. The oldest surviving written history of Japan, the Kojiki, was written using kanbun before 712.

Birth of Kana: Simplifying Kanji

Later, a new system called man'yōgana was created. This was a big step because it used kanji just for their sounds, not their meanings. This system was used to write Japanese poetry.

From man'yōgana, the simpler hiragana and katakana characters developed. They made writing Japanese much easier. This is why they are called "kana" today.

Japanese also developed two ways to read kanji:

• On'yomi: These readings are similar to the original Chinese pronunciation of the character.
• Kun'yomi: These readings are from native Japanese words that have the same meaning as the kanji.

Modern Changes: Making Writing Easier

Over the years, there have been many efforts to make the Japanese writing system simpler. After World War II, big changes happened. The government standardized hiragana and katakana to match modern pronunciation. They also created lists of common kanji, like the jōyō kanji, to make learning easier for students.

These reforms helped make Japanese writing more consistent and accessible. Today, the system continues to evolve, but the core elements of kanji, hiragana, and katakana remain.

Romanization: Writing Japanese in English Letters

Romanization is the process of writing Japanese sounds using the Latin alphabet. The most common system used is called Hepburn romanization. It helps people who don't know Japanese characters to read and pronounce Japanese words. For example, the Japanese word for "hello" is こんにちは, which is romanized as konnichiwa.

Examples of Japanese Writing

Japanese sentences often mix all three scripts: kanji (red), hiragana (purple), and katakana (orange). Sometimes, Latin letters (green) and Arabic numerals (black) are also included.

This sentence means:

Here's how it looks in rōmaji:

Here are some examples of words written in different Japanese scripts:

Sometimes, a single Japanese word can even use all three main scripts. For example, the word 消しゴム (keshigomu), which means "eraser," uses a kanji, a hiragana, and two katakana characters.

See also