Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot
This helps protect our community. Learn more

Why Do Japanese Still Use Kanji? Complicated Writing System...

That Japanese Man Yuta
1.31M subscribers
<__slot-el>
<__slot-el>
1.8M views 9 years ago
Learn Japanese with Yuta: https://bit.ly/2LqZ3CE Support me on Patreon: https://goo.gl/aiWNd5 More videos on Facebook: https://bit.ly/381qpHS Single woman in Tokyo? http://goo.gl/1deeCx For the rest of you guys: http://goo.gl/tlJNkQ Must-read before Dating in Japan: http://amzn.com/B00SDJ61FI You can buy my cute T-shirts here: http://yuta.spreadshirt.com/ Personal questions should go here: http://www.tricider.com/brainstorming... Topic suggestions should go here: http://www.tricider.com/brainstorming... Twitter:   / thatyuta   Blog: http://www.yutaaoki.com/blog/ Facebook: https://bit.ly/381qpHS Instagram:   / thatyuta   What equipment do I use? (Affiliate Links) [Camera] Panasonic GH4: http://goo.gl/tVEmbI [Mic] Shure SM63LB: http://goo.gl/xVhqm8 [Mic] BEHRINGER B-1 http://goo.gl/N2Ht4M [Recorder] Zoom H1: http://goo.gl/XgDXub [Editor] Sony Movie Studio 13: http://goo.gl/1xA0Vj Why Do Japanese Use Kanji? Japanese is known for its compli …...more
...more
Why Do Japanese Still Use Kanji? Complicated Writing System...
66KLikes
1,819,056Views
2015Dec 26
Learn Japanese with Yuta: https://bit.ly/2LqZ3CE Support me on Patreon: https://goo.gl/aiWNd5 More videos on Facebook: https://bit.ly/381qpHS Single woman in Tokyo? http://goo.gl/1deeCx For the rest of you guys: http://goo.gl/tlJNkQ Must-read before Dating in Japan: http://amzn.com/B00SDJ61FI You can buy my cute T-shirts here: http://yuta.spreadshirt.com/ Personal questions should go here: http://www.tricider.com/brainstorming... Topic suggestions should go here: http://www.tricider.com/brainstorming... Twitter:   / thatyuta   Blog: http://www.yutaaoki.com/blog/ Facebook: https://bit.ly/381qpHS Instagram:   / thatyuta   What equipment do I use? (Affiliate Links) [Camera] Panasonic GH4: http://goo.gl/tVEmbI [Mic] Shure SM63LB: http://goo.gl/xVhqm8 [Mic] BEHRINGER B-1 http://goo.gl/N2Ht4M [Recorder] Zoom H1: http://goo.gl/XgDXub [Editor] Sony Movie Studio 13: http://goo.gl/1xA0Vj Why Do Japanese Use Kanji? Japanese is known for its complicated writing system, but why do we use kanji? Can't we just use hiragana and katakana? Is it possible to abolish kanji?
  • Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic characters.
  • Kanji (literally meaning Chinese letters) is like a symbol.
  • Japanese has a lot of homophones and homographs and kanji helps to distinguish them.
  • We have a set of official kanji on the joyo kanji list.
  • There has been a number of attempts to abolish kanji in Japanese history.
  • Once, John Pelzel from the Allied occupation of Japan tried to completely romanise Japanese after WWII.
[Here's a bit of history of people who tried to abolish kanji] 1866 - Hisoka Maejima, a Japanese statesman, was said to send a proposal to the shogun, insisting on abolishing kanji. 1872 - Yukichi Fukuzawa, Japan's prominent figure featured in the current 10,000 yen bill, wrote about his idea of abolishing kanji. 1881 - A group of people started a movement to promote the use of kana letters in place of kanji. 1946 - Naoya Shiga, a famous Japanese novelist, suggested that Japan should adopt French as the official language. 1946 - The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the most popular Japanese newspapers, published an editorial arguing that adopting Roman alphabet would be key to democratise the country.

Follow along using the transcript.

That Japanese Man Yuta

1.31M subscribers