Ryakuji facts for kids

Ryakuji (pronounced "RYAH-koo-jee") are special, shorter ways to write kanji characters in Japanese. Think of them as a kind of shorthand! They are usually unofficial, meaning you might see them in everyday writing but not always in formal documents.

One of the most common ryakuji you'll see is the symbol 々. This symbol is a quick way to write a kanji character a second time when it's repeated in a word. For example, the word tokidoki means "from time to time." In Japanese, it's written as 時々. The first character, 時, means "time." The 々 tells you to repeat the character 時, so you don't have to write 時時. It's like saying "time-time" but in a shorter way!

Using 々 makes writing faster and easier to read when the same kanji appears twice in a row. It's a clever trick to avoid repeating characters.

Common Words Using 々

Many Japanese words use the 々 symbol. Here are a few examples:

Ryakuji and English Ligatures

Ryakuji are a bit like "ligatures" in English. A ligature is when two or more letters are joined together to form a single symbol. For example, the "&" symbol, which means "and," used to be a combination of the letters "e" and "t" from the Latin word "et." Just like ligatures make writing quicker in English, ryakuji help make writing kanji faster in Japanese!

Images for kids

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  Sign reading "umbrella stand" (仐おき, kasa-oki, standard form 傘おき, showing ryakuji form of 傘: 仐 (人 + 十), with inner 人 omitted. Compare simplified Chinese 伞.

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  Price tag reading ¥400, 特価品 (bargain item), showing ryakuji form of 品, with bottom squares connected.

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  Some widely used ryakuji

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  門

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  間

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  開

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  機 → 木 + キ ki

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  議 → 言 + ギ gi

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  魔、摩 → 广 + マ ma

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  木 + キ