Japanese Language

Let’s talk about language in the Japanese culture! First you may be surprised to learn that nearly 123 million people across the world speak or use the Japanese language. The vocabulary consists of many borrowed words especially from the Chinese language. The writing system for this language consists of three different categories: Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. Kanji consist of Chinese characters and each correlates to a word.  Before adopting Chinese characters, the Japanese language did not have a writing system.

When writing in the language, Hiragana and Katakana must also be used in connection with Kanji. When comparing the characters of Hiragana and Katakana, it is easily notable that Hiragana has more of a cursive look while Katakana is more angular. Hiragana is what children begin learning at young ages often children’s books are written using only this.

Lastly out of the three is Katakana which is often used with Hiragana and they both contain 46 different signs. Katakana is typically used when writing borrowed words from other languages and peoples names.

Unlike the English language, where we read and write from left to right, the Japanese language has two different forms known as the western style and the traditional Japanese style. The Western style is written in horizontal rows going from top to bottom on the paper. The traditional Japanese style is written in vertical columns reading from right to left.

Works Cited

“Japanese Language.” Osaka Travel: Shitennoji Temple, http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e621.html.

“Japanese Language.” Osaka Travel: Shitennoji Temple, http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e621.html.