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History of Japanese Writing System; From Kanji Into Hiragana

Gray Hansen Limantoro1, Yeyen Dwi Atma2
1,2
Mulia University, Indonesia
1
[email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT
The Japanese writing system has undergone a long and complex evolution since
*Corresponding Author the introduction of Chinese characters (hànzì) in the 5th century. Over time, this
Article History: system, comprising kanji, kana (hiragana and katakana), and romaji, has seen
Submitted: 07-10-2024 continuous transformations. This research explores the historical progression of
Accepted: 10-10-2024 the Japanese writing system, tracing its development from the early use of kanji
Published: 19-10-2024 and the adaptation of Man’yōgana to the eventual creation of kana. Kanji,
Keywords: originally imported from China, initially posed challenges due to its complexity
Japanese Writing System; Kanji; and the mismatch with the Japanese language structure. As a result,
Hiragana; Linguistic Context; Man’yōgana, an early form of Japanese script using kanji phonetically, emerged
Katakana as an intermediary step. Eventually, this evolved into two distinct syllabaries:
The Journal is licensed under a hiragana and katakana, collectively known as kana, which simplified writing
Creative Commons Attribution- and better suited the Japanese linguistic context. This study utilizes desk
NonCommercial 4.0 International research to analyze the key stages of this transformation, focusing on the
(CC BY-NC 4.0). cultural, linguistic, and social factors that contributed to each phase of
development. From the influence of Chinese characters to the creation of a
uniquely Japanese writing system, the transition from kanji to kana reflects the
need for reform and adaptation. By examining these historical shifts, the
research sheds light on how Japan tailored a borrowed writing system to suit its
own language and facilitated easier, more accessible written communication.

INTRODUCTION
Japanese has long been considered one of the most difficult languages to learn, especially for learners whose
native language does not use kanji, which is the Chinese script or hànzì that is part of the Japanese script or kanji
(Bourke, 1992; Douglas, 1992 in Paxton, 2019). In expressing their language in writing, the Japanese use a mixture of
script types (Joyce et al., 2012). The Japanese writing system consists of logographic Kanji, Kana (Hiragana,
Katakana), alphabetic Romaji (Igarashi, 2007; Jilson, 2013; Al Jahan, 2017; Hisada, 2018; Harun et al., 2024; Tamaoka
et al., 2002; Leong, 1998; Diner, 2015). The two types of syllabic kana have their own characteristics, namely hiragana
is cursive and katakana has a more angular script (Koda, 2017; Taylor & Taylor, 2014 in reference Inoue et al., 2023).

Fig 1. The Japanese Writing System consists of Kanji (Left),

Kana which consists of Hiragana and Katakana (Center), Romaji (Right)

The more cursive hiragana characters are called onnade, or female hand, while the more square-shaped,
detached, and isolated katakana characters are called otoko moji, or male writing. This does not imply, however, that
men only use katakana and women only use hiragana (Miller, 121–124 in reference to Jilson, 2013). In the ninth
century, katakana also arrived along with hiragana. Originally, katakana was used by Buddhist monks to annotate texts
written in Chinese characters. Since it originated in China and moved to Japan, the use of Japanese has greatly
expanded. Japanese writing continues to adapt with the times, from the form of Chinese characters or hànzì, which
turned into kanji, down to man'yōgana, to the present kana script (hiragana and katakana), whose writing varies. The
writing of hentaigana was created after the standardization of hiragana in 1900 by the Japanese Ministry of Education,
making obsolete characters separate from the hiragana group and becoming their own characters. This research
summarizes other literature that discusses the journey of Japanese writing to create a sequential timeline.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Based on Al Jahan's research (2017) entitled "The Origin and Development of Hiragana and Katakana," it
outlines how the development of the Japanese writing system from the Chinese script (hànzì) to its spread in Japan. One
of the greatest contributions to the history of Japanese linguistics was the formation of kanji, a script adapted from the
Chinese script, or hànzì. Kanji is often used to convey complex and rich meanings in written language. Kanji was later
paired with two simpler syllabic systems, namely hiragana and katakana (Igarashi, 2007; Koda, 2017).
Igarashi (2007), in the research "The changing role of katakana in the Japanese writing system," also explains the
history of the Japanese writing system and the function of each system. Where Kanji was present in the 5,000-3,000 BC
century (Taylor & Taylor, 1995). Studies on the use of hiragana and katakana show that they function in different
contexts. Hiragana is used for native Japanese words and in grammatical contexts, while katakana is used for imports,
onomatopoeia, and emphasis, as well as for foreign language imports (Taylor & Taylor, 2014; Diner, 2015). Hiragana,
with its cursive and smooth form, is also known as onnade, or "women's writing," due to its more common use among
women during its early development. On the other hand, katakana, with its more bold and angular form, was often used
by Buddhist monks to annotate classical Chinese texts, which came to be known as otoko moji, or "men's writing"
(Miller, 121–124 in reference to Jilson, 2013; Fogel et al., 1994).
Romaji is the Latin alphabet representation of Japanese words, emerging in research as an aid for foreign
speakers learning Japanese. Romaji has limited use in the formal writing system, but it still plays an important role in
helping beginners to understand and pronounce Japanese before they learn kana and kanji (Igarashi, 2007). In the study
of Japanese writing history, researchers such as Tamaoka et al. (2002) and Hisada (2018) highlight that the integration
of Chinese characters into Japanese was not a straightforward process. It required significant adaptation to match the
monosyllabic logographic system with the polysyllabic Japanese language.
This development demonstrates the dynamic interplay between the absorption of outside influences and local
innovation that is typical in Japanese linguistic history. Previous research noted that the transformation of the Japanese
writing system went hand in hand with social and cultural changes in Japan. For instance, the development of simpler
kana occurred in the Heian period (794–1185), when Japanese writing was increasingly separated from the direct
influence of Chinese characters, symbolizing an important phase in the development of a more independent and
structured Japanese language (Al Jahan, 2017).

METHOD
Desk analysis or desk research is a form of research that consists of researching, retrieving, evaluating, and
reprocessing information that has been collected from official sources. The main purpose of desk research is to identify
and summarize previous research, reports, and documents (Maciejewska et al., 2022; Specht, 2019). This research uses
desk research, where scientific articles from various journals are collected and studied to sort, summarize, and process
information from each article reviewed. Articles that refer to the outline of the journey of the Japanese writing system
are the main reference, and then from these articles, related articles are added. The characters used as examples in this
article were taken from the internet, using MS Mincho font for Mincho, gatasosyo and gatasosyoTujokana for cursive,
or Sōgana, Yuji Hentaigana Akebono for hentaigana characters.

RESULT
The earliest known Japanese writings came from China, most likely from bilingual Chinese and Korean court
officials at the Yamato court. During the reign of Empress Suiko (593-628), the Yamato court sent large-scale
diplomatic missions to China, which resulted in a huge increase in Chinese literacy at the Japanese court. The Chinese
writing system was introduced to Japan in the 5th century via the Korean peninsula. Initially, the Chinese writing
system used with Japanese terms was represented by characters that depicted meaning rather than sound.

DISCUSSION
Kanji continued to evolve in hopes of increasingly faster and more accurate writing. In the 6th and 10th centuries
AD, kanji evolved, and the Japanese began using it to write Japanese as a syllabic script after the 7th century (Heinrich,
2015; Joyce et al., 2014; Ogino et al., 2017; Yagyu et al., 2021, in reference to Harun et al., 2024).

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Fig 2. Formation of Hiragana and Katakana from Kanji that have been transformed into Man'yōgana

Kanji
Kanji (漢字) are Chinese logographic characters or hànzì that were adopted and used in the modern Japanese
writing system. Kanji have a function in that they are used to represent both meaning and phonetic sounds.

Fig 3 Kanji as a derivative of the Chinese Han or hànzì script

Basically, hànzì consists of 5,000 to 6,000 characters (Hanley, 2005 in Inoue reference, 2017). Based on
newspaper archives, kanji frequency studies show that 3000 kanji cover almost all (99%) of what Japanese readers
encounter, but the rest are spread across the other 3000 kanji (Kess & Miyamoto 1999, p. 199; citing Nozaki et al., 1996
re-cited by Hoek, 2019; Tamaoka et al., 2002). It is estimated that around 6000-7000 kanji are used in modern Japanese,
and Japanese people with secondary and higher education recognize around 3000 kanji (Hadamitzky & Spahn, 1997,
pp. 43 in Hoek, 2019; Seeley, 1991 in Paxton, 2019). New cultural elements and ideas in the form of writing were
brought in the 6th century by scholars, monks, and merchants from China who frequented Japan (Mitani & Minemura,
cited in Meldrum, 2009, p. 54, and cited by Benediken, 2019). 54, and cited by Benediktsdottir, 2012, p. 8).
Tollini (1994) in Paxton (2019) elaborates that these new ideas from China were not accessible to everyone, as
they had to learn the Chinese writing system first. The Japanese language did not have a written form when Chinese
characters, or hànzì, were introduced, and the language used for reading and writing was Chinese. In the 8th (Wang et
al., 2023) to 9th centuries AD, the Kanbun-Kundoku system was used, where classical Chinese was adapted into
Japanese form in the method of reading and translating Japanese (Kin, 2010; Al Jahan, 2017). One group of Japanese
scholars in the Nara period (710–784 CE) tried to solve the problem by abandoning the meaning and order of the hànzì
script and using the script only for its phonetic value. A writing called man'yōgana developed, where hànzì was used to
write Japanese words, and produced modern kanji letters.

Man'yōgana

Fig 4. Kanji used for Man'yōgana

Man'yōgana (万葉仮名), otherwise known as shakuji (借字), is a kana system that was first recognized and
developed as a means to represent Japanese phonetically. In the Man'yōgana writing system, Chinese characters, or
hànzì, are used to represent Japanese by adopting the letter formation but retaining the meaning unchanged (Paxton,
2019). At the present time, Man'yōgana is no longer used (Jolly, 1972). Al Jahan (2017) explains that the date of

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Man'yōgana's initial use is unclear, but it has been in use since the mid-7th century, and the name Man'yōgana comes
from Man'yōshū, an anthology of Japanese poetry from the Nara period (Bentley, 2021). Man'yōgana was increasingly
written in a more cursive, hand-written form, called sōgana or 'grass stroke', and became the forerunner of hiragana
(Habein, 1984 in the literature reviewed by Joyce et al., 2012).

Sōgana

Fig 5. Sōgana or cursive character

Sōgana (草仮名) is a cursive form that mediates between the modern man'yōgana and hiragana scripts and
becomes a flexible character (Singh et al., 2022). Sōgana appeared in the Heian era (794-1185) and was often used for
poetry recitation and was in general use. Then in the ninth century, hiragana syllabary along with katakana emerged and
developed (Jilson, 2013), reinforced by the statement of Harun et al. (2024). In the early tenth (Loveday, 1996,
referenced in Kunert, 2017) to eleventh centuries.

Fig 6. Formation of Hiragana from Man'yōgana, Man'yōgana Script (left) Simplified into Sōgana Script or
cursive writing (center) and into Part of Hiragana (right).

Meiji era (1868–1912) saw the further development of sōgana into hiragana with the use of wakankonkōbun, a
mixed Chinese–Japanese style (Al Jahan, 2017; Meldrum, 2009; Clark, 2009, 14–22; Twine, 1991:48 in Weng, 2020).
These days, sōgana is only used decoratively. Without having to represent characters of Chinese origin to use Japanese,
katakana or hiragana could be widely used by the upper classes at the time.

Hiragana

Fig 7. Hiragana

Hiragana (平仮名, ひらがな) is a simplified and more cursive representation of the sōgana form (Habein,
1984). Hiragana dates back to the 9th century, where it represented morae (fewer units within a syllable) to describe a
collection of 46 basic sounds (Tamaoka et al., 2002). Hiragana represents the formation of kanji in a connected or
simplified form. Like the flow of writing that appears when with brush and ink, it is written at a fast tempo.

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Fig 8. Hiragana is the result of simplifying kanji by connecting each part of the kanji through cursive forms.

The phonetic kanji for the 'a' sound (安) becomes hiragana 'あ', so hiragana is referred to as a 'cursive' character.
The word 'hira' itself in 'hiragana' means 'common' or 'ordinary', due to its general use as well as the use of hiragana for
writing non-government documents (Al Jahan, 2017; Shibatani, 1990; Akizuki, 2005 in Kunert's research, 2017).
Tamaoka (2002) also explains that hiragana is used for grammatical inflections and words that do not require kanji in
their writing.

Katakana

Fig 9. Katakana

Katakana (片仮名, カタカナ) was developed to assist monks in pronouncing hànzì or Chinese characters and
was used to record Buddhist scriptures (Akizuki, 2005 in reference to Igarashi, 2007). Katakana is a script used in
Japanese writing that is derived from foreign language absorption. Katakana also has a function similar to the use of
italic in English. 'Kata' in katakana means 'part' or 'fraction', and katakana represents a part of the original kanji, where
'i' (伊) represents the left part of the kanji into katakana 'i' (イ).

Fig 10. Formation of Katakana (right) from Man'yōgana (left),

Katakana Taken from Radical/Part of Kanji Script Then Simplifieda

Compared to the Nara period (710–794), at the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185), the study of Buddhist
texts and Chinese literature became popular among intellectuals, and in order to make Buddhist texts comprehensible in
Chinese, monks used man'yōgana and reading aids that were diacritical marks, or so-called octonauts (乎古止点)
(Habein, 1984). However, the use of man'yōgana became inefficient, as the kanji used served as phonograms as well as
requiring too many strokes for a kana written in a limited space within the text. Thus, a more abbreviated and simplified
version was written by the monks. Simplification is done by taking parts (radicals) of kanji; generally, kanji are divided
into two sub-character parts (Saito et al., 2002). By taking radicals from kana and simplifying them, katakana is formed
(Taylor & Taylor, 1995 in Igarashi, 2007).

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Fig 11. Katakana is the result of simplifying the kanji by taking a cut or bushu (marked in red) on the kanji.

Over time, katakana evolved into a script specifically used to write foreign words as well as loanwords known as
gairaigo (外来語), onomatopoeic expressions, stress words, foreign-derived names, and specialized terminology (Harun
et al., 2024; Joyce et al., 2012; Komatsu et al., 1992; Tamaoka et al., 2002; Hermalin, 2015; Huynh, 2013; Hoek, 2009).

Hentaigana

Fig 10. Hentaigana

Hentaigana (変体仮名) is obsolete or non-standardized hiragana. Hentaigana is the result of the elimination of
hiragana variations due to the ministry of education's 1900 regulation on hiragana standardization. Hentaigana includes
variants of hiragana styles that fall outside the standard. Although not used in publications, store signage and brand
names still use hentaigana to create a traditional or old-fashioned feel. (Al Jahan, 2017; Le, 2020).

CONCLUSION
The long journey of the evolution of the Japanese writing system began with the adoption of Chinese characters
(hànzì) in the 5th century, which were initially used for official documents and literacy at the Yamato court. At first,
kanji were used logographically, representing meaning rather than sound. However, with the development of literacy
and the need to record Japanese phonetically, the Man'yōgana system emerged in the Nara period (710–784 CE), where
kanji were used to represent the sounds of Japanese without taking on their meaning.
Man'yōgana played an important role in developing the Japanese phonetic writing system. These characters later
developed into the sōgana (cursive) form, which became the forerunner of hiragana. In the 9th century, hiragana and
katakana emerged as simpler and phonetic forms of writing. Hiragana, which developed from sōgana, was used to write
native Japanese words and grammatical elements, while katakana was developed to record foreign terms, absorptions,
and loanwords. In the early 20th century, the Japanese writing system underwent standardization, eliminating the
hentaigana character variation, a non-standardized form of hiragana.
Hentaigana is now only used in specialized contexts, such as traditional aesthetics. The Japanese writing system
that is used today has a long history, and it all started with written ideas brought by China and underwent simplification
that gave birth to hiragana and katakana. Simplification continued until the standardization of hiragana by the Japanese
ministry of education in 1900. So the kanji and kana characters used today have evolved and are the standardized form
of the Japanese writing system.

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