Wind i-mode Pass Wind i-mode Pass
This article is about the Japanese kanji form of writing. For the Australian shrub, see Kanji bush. For a general discussion of Chinese characters which are also used in other East Asian languages, see Chinese character. Japanese writing
Kanji 漢字
Kana 仮名
Hiragana 平仮名Katakana 片仮名Manyogana 万葉仮名Uses
Furigana 振り仮名Okurigana 送り仮名Rōmaji ローマ字
Kanji (Japanese: 漢字 (helpinfo)) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and the arabic numerals.
History
The Japanese term kanji (漢字) literally means "Han characters". Forum su Wind. There is some disagreement about how Chinese characters came to Japan, but it is generally accepted that Buddhist monks from the kingdom of Baekje in Korea brought Chinese texts to the country during the 5th century. These texts were in the Chinese language and would have been read as such at the time. Over time, however, a system known as kanbun (漢文) emerged, essentially using Chinese text with diacritical marks to allow Japanese speakers to read the characters in accordance with the rules of Japanese grammar.
The Japanese language itself had no written form at the time.