Japanese Language
Japanese Writing: The 80-Year Battle for “Genbun Itchi”
How did written Japanese come into accord with the spoken language? A short history of the movement to bring Japanese writing to…
Articles by Arthur Reiji Morris
9 articles
Japanese Language
Japanese Language
Japanese Writing: The Kanji Debate of the Meiji Period
The story of how modern Japanese came to assume its current written form - and how kanji nearly got left on the…
Japanese Language
Japanese Writing: Pronunciation Shifts in the Edo Period
How Japanese writing and Japanese written speech differed in the Edo period - and how pronunciation came closer to what's spoken today.
Japanese Language
Japanese Writing: The Birth of Kana in the Heian Period
How did the hiragana and katakana writing systems come to exist in Japanese? What purpose did they serve? A history of writing…
Japanese Language
Japanese Writing: A History – Origins to Nara Era
How did the written Japanese language assume its current form? We look at the language's earliest written forms - Chinese kanji and…
Japanese Language
Japanese Restaurant Menus: Reading the Kanji
Reading Japanese menus can be tricky, as you'll often find many kanji you don't encounter elsewhere. Here's a short guide to make…
Japanese Language
Tasukatta! Useful Japanese Phrases When Dining Out in Japan
Trying to order in Japanese at a Japanese restaurant? Here are some of the questions you might not expect - and how…
Japanese Language
A Simple Guide to Ordering in Japanese Restaurants
Eating out in Japan, but afraid your Nihongo's a little rusty? Here's an easy guide to getting seated, ordering and enjoying yourself…