As briefly mentioned in the previous lesson, modern Japanese combines three writing systems: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Kanji is the primary form of notation, but particles, auxiliary verbs, verb endings, and some adverbs are written in hiragana. Foreign words, on the other hand, are represented using katakana.
The level of kanji knowledge can even reflect a person's educational background. In fact, the same sentence can be written entirely in hiragana or include kanji, depending on one's proficiency with these characters.
Words that are typically written in kanji (漢字) include nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verb roots, and also names of people or places in countries with a kanji-using culture, such as China, South Korea, and North Korea.
Words written in hiragana (ひらがな) include conjugated endings of adjectives and verbs, grammatical particles, Japanese words that have no kanji, and what is known as furigana (phonetic readings placed above kanji to indicate pronunciation). For example: 日本語.
Words written in katakana (カタカナ) are mainly loanwords, onomatopoeia, and certain technical or scientific terms (such as species names).
Rōmaji (the Latin alphabet) is used for acronyms and initials —such as NATO ("North Atlantic Treaty Organization")— as well as in Japanese names on business cards or passports intended for international use. It is also used in company, brand, and product names (like TOYOTA), both in Japan and abroad. Sometimes, it is used when a foreign word or phrase is inserted into a Japanese context.
Direction of Writing
Traditionally, Japanese was written vertically, with text arranged in columns from top to bottom and from right to left. However, modern Japanese also adopts horizontal writing, similar to Western languages, written from left to right.
Typographic Variations in Characters
Some hiragana and kanji characters may display slight differences in shape depending on the typeface used, whether in print or on screen.
Japanese commonly uses three main font styles: Gothic, Mincho, and Kyōkasho. Certain hiragana and kanji characters may change shape depending on the chosen typeface.
