Japan Society of Fairfield County
Tips on Japanese Writing System: Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana
How kanji differs most significantly from
hiragana and katakana is that kanji is ideographic. Thus whenever one
sees a kanji, the meaning (or often meanings) automatically pops up in
one’s mind, most likely accompanied with its sound(s). Furthermore, in
English, as a matter of fact, if one is not familiar with the word or
if one does not have Greek knowledge, for example, one cannot figure
out what “anemometer” signifies. On the contrary, in Japanese, even an
elementary school child who cannot read or who is not familiar with the
word still can presume what 風力計(huu ryoku kei) is. It is because if one
knows the meaning of each kanji, one can often presume what the word
signifies. In the case of 風力計, the first character means “wind,” the
second “power,” and the third “measure”; thus, even a young child can
guess the meaning of this word “anemometer.”
Moreover, how one combines kanji, hiragana,
and katakana or how one does not combine them often controls the
impression readers receive. In general, kanji gives a stiff, official,
or perhaps intellectual image to readers, partially because of its
straight lines and complexity; hiragana a soft and simple image, again
perhaps because of its simple roundish lines; and katakana a sharp
crisp image and a foreign flavor because of its shape and general
usage. Thus one’s own combination in degrees of usage of kanji,
hiragana, and katakana can create one’s particular concoction of images
for readers. In other words, Japanese writing is greatly visual.
In writing tanka poems, too, I carefully take
this visual effect into account, not to mention the sound and the
meaning of each word or the poem as a whole. I believe the blend of
these three effects provides even richer imagination and interpretation
to readers.
Note: What we call “kanji” in Japanese has two kinds; namely, one
originally derived from China and the other coined in Japan.
Specifically, the latter one is called “kokuji.”
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