Should Japan Abolish Kanji?

[kameron]

Until 1986, South Korean students did learn hanja, but the ultra-nationalism after the Olympic killed the great Asian heritage there.
If you did not know the above, the nationalistic policy succeeded.

I should have said Korea has been aboloshing Hanja for 300 years. Korean students STILL learn hanja at school.

 

[pipokun]

it's only ever for place names or people's names.

This is what you posted here.

Ordinary Edo people wanted to discuss the Chinese poems or Confucianism with Korean diplomats then.
Wake up.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

I should have said Korea has been aboloshing Hanja for 300 years. Korean students STILL learn hanja at school.

But a Korean cannot speak the reading and writing of a kanji.
I knew it in a Korean Site.

 

[centrajapan]

漢字頭いたい難しい

Kanji gives me a headache it is difficult

 

[Chi65]

But a Korean cannot speak the reading and writing of a kanji.
I knew it in a Korean Site.

Many in Asia can't speak it, but they can very well communicate via writing the Hanzi (is hanja the korean name for them?) into their hands, and do this a lot! Also in Korea. I have seen it there.
If that stops, one main and important communication line will die.

 

[joaniedark]

Hmm, yes and no.
It is traditional (even if from China) and does make writing a lot shorter, and adds secondary meanings to words.
But using just katakana and hirigana would make the language a lot more accessible to non-Japanese speakers, especially westerners who do not have symbol-based language.

 

[Chidoriashi]

ohh waaaa... westerners are more than catered to here, with signs in English and the Japanese having to learn English for 6 years (whether it is to any avail or not).. If you are serious about learning Japanese then you are just gonna have to suck it up and do your best. Kanji more than carries its weight in usefulness, and throwing it away because a few whiners got B's in Japanese class cuz they didnt know enough, is a silly reason to want to get rid of it.

 

[Chi65]

Hmm, yes and no.
It is traditional (even if from China) and does make writing a lot shorter, and adds secondary meanings to words.
But using just katakana and hirigana would make the language a lot more accessible to non-Japanese speakers, especially westerners who do not have symbol-based language.

Yes, very usefull with the secondary meaning. Some often try to clarify, which soandso was meant, by painting the according sign, and then you see their face lighting up, ahaa!

I also found this very clever, particularly because I am a painter and somewhat "tick" alike in many ways.
In the end, there are less misunderstandings than in our system.
Its a pity, we can't remember our first symbols, which we also had.
An important brain training is gone, not so there.
Not, that I wish to change (my) western habits, but it did me only good to add the other views, best way, I could, of course.

 

[JAL]

people, there is an old saying in Latvia about Japan - "only because of kanji, Japan is Japan and Japanese is Japanese"
There is another one - "only fools are able count to 26, look at Japanese they can hundred times more!"
Thanks to "kanji", Japanese are one of the most wisest and smartest people on this planet. You ask: Why?
From the childhood Japanese people are memorizing hundreds, thousands of kanji symbols , learning new Japanese language, so called "modern Japanese", for us, western people and European its something like memorizing a hundreds of riddles or songs each year
and remember them even after a couple of years.
Because of that, each average Japanese is able in short time to memorize more information than western or European people, thus Japanese are quick learner people...
look at Japanese karaoke contests, no people in the world can beat them
and it's all thanks to kanji

​

 

[bruno]

30 years married with my japanese wife, I am the working,
she is the thinking part! Thats share of duties !! And she
never stopped learning about Kanji !

 

[Chi65]

I remember, that some tests showed indeed, that the general school results were amongst the best, if not the best in the world.
Ahem, the present school-system itself goes back to the Prussians. . .must have been a fitting marriage.;-)

 

[kala83]

I agree with most everyone else and what they said Kanji may make learning Japanese more difficult but in the long rung because of just how complex a language is it makes the pay off or learning the writing system even better. I am big hobbiest of linguistics I want to learn Korean, Spanish , Japanese and eventually German, Italian, and French too! I am starting off with Spanish and Japanese...since I already know quite a bit of those two languages and I have heard from multiple people and books that the vowels system in both are very similar to each other so the pronunciations need to speak them are very, very close to each other.
But my primary focus is Japanese, I do think that because Japanese is such a complex and difficult language once I am able to speak and write it more comftertably I will be able to take on the other languages I want to learn with more self confidence then before. I am not sure if this is true or not but I have always been under the assumption that if you learn more then one language and you wish to learn more languages after you master your second, learning more is not as hard as it is before hand.
The other thing I would not like about them taking out Kanji simply would be that has, Kanji has a lot to do with Japan's history back when it was copying and mimicking a lot of Chinese culture before they decided to close them selves off and try to grow as a nation themselves.
Japan was able to grow quite a lot due to the fact they closed their boarders off for 200 years but the fact still remains that they did you Chinese culture to influence them selves as well none the less.
and just so everyone here knows I am by no means an expert on Japanese history or culture in the slightest so if any of my information is off at all I am taking the time now to apologize for it....just didn't want to sound like lil know it all when I am totally not and did not wish to make a fool of myself.

 

[JAL]

huh, it's sad that Prussian language is long forgotten , they where brothers of my ancestor's from Baltic region, till German aristocrats assimilated and destroyed Prussian language and culture
If it wold be possible, I wold gladly learn Prussian - the third Baltic linguistic language.

 

[Chi65]

What, Prussian language?? I think, it was just German. . .OK, Berlin sounds a bit different than Munich, haha, but then the Bavarians would rather say, they speak Bavarian(Bayrisch), than the Prussians speaking Prussian or Preussisch or what not. Berlinerisch, well, yes, some. ;-)

But who knows . . maybe there was a special language, but surely not in the high ranks, except that they spoke French for longer, when Aristocrates, alors. Was it before all that? Must have been.
You see, age does not stop one from learning.

Anyhow, where did you get this from? Sounds interesting nevertheless!
(but I am just a lower saxon, those who married into the british empire at times)

And Kala, I started with Chinese, then a bit Korean, and then Japan had me, but not my very well language capabilities. But the cultural path was perfect.

 

[caster51]

I think when I read some books, Kanji makea easy for speed reading because
Kanji is hieroglyph. so it does not need how to read kanji. I watch merely them like pics.


Hangul is the phonetic symbol.
they must read phonetic symbol to understand like hiragana and katakana.

http://bbs.enjoykorea.jp/tbbs/read.php?board_id=phistory&nid=99742

 

[lilyofthevalley]

Japanese is really hard to read if there is just hiragana/katakana.

 

[ハダカ]

Lol many japanese freely speak Korean and happy with that so I think that Kanji is traditonal but not necessary.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Lol many japanese freely speak Korean and happy with that so I think that Kanji is traditonal but not necessary.

:?
A Japanese cannot speak Korea language.
and A Korean living in Japan does not know Korea language.

 

[JAL]

Lol many japanese freely speak Korean and happy with that so I think that Kanji is traditonal but not necessary.

To ハダカ: "не кажи чепyxy!" - it's in Ukraine language and it means "don't talk nonsense!"

 

[JAL]

What, Prussian language?? I think, it was just German. . .OK, Berlin sounds a bit different than Munich, haha, but then the Bavarians would rather say, they speak Bavarian(Bayrisch), than the Prussians speaking Prussian or Preussisch or what not. Berlinerisch, well, yes, some. ;-)
But who knows . . maybe there was a special language, but surely not in the high ranks, except that they spoke French for longer, when Aristocrates, alors. Was it before all that? Must have been.
You see, age does not stop one from learning.
Anyhow, where did you get this from? Sounds interesting nevertheless!
(but I am just a lower saxon, those who married into the british empire at times)
And Kala, I started with Chinese, then a bit Korean, and then Japan had me, but not my very well language capabilities. But the cultural path was perfect.

Prussian language wasn' t like German, thus there where some similarity's with German language (token from neighbor country's). In Prussia all churches where with German pastors, the largest city's where swarmed with German, Polish merchants. In time, all landlords where German (marriages with German aristocrats, lands where buyed from Prussian or overtaken by German churches, aristocracy). All left Prussian aristocrats adapted and learned German because it was necessary for politics etc. Schools where too only in German. how do you think, how long Prussian culture cud withstand German influence?
Whats left from Prussian language are some 200 - 300 words, not more.

 

[Chi65]

And I always thought, that Preussen was just a part of inside Germany...must check.
Ah, you may mean the parts Westpreussen/Ostpreussen, and probably their original inhabitants. Your neighbours, indeed! I always thought, they were mainly polish there, befor the Germans came. . .now, your explanation makes sense, thanks! I will follow this tip.

Sorry, for going off topic here, but it was too interesting for me.

What I meant with Preussen in relation to Japan, was a certain Period in history, but a German one, combined with Japan relations, thus after the opening of Japan. One of our former leaders of the german japanese society is a specialist about schoolsystems, particularly japanese, and in close relation to old german ones, thats why this is a theme amongst us for long.
Funny, to get the other above information now from a neighbour state. Thanks! Great update of my historical knowledge, and a shame about the loss of old original Prussia, indeed!
Greetings!

 

[JAL]

Japanese is really hard to read if there is just hiragana/katakana.

I think the opposite, but still I better prefer to read in kanji written texts, because it has it's charms and every day I am finding new things to learn, it's quite interesting. And by the way, learning kanji is really stimulating memory

 

[Tomii515]

I think it would be stupid.
Japanese, in my opinion, looks really kool with the kanji, hiragana, and katakana.
Yeah, it's hard. I like a challenge
They are fun to learn and fun to write. you can impress people when they ask "o how do you remember how to write that?" or something haha

it also makes japanese a lot eaier to understand.
if there werent any kanji, it would be hard for people learning the language to distinguish verb, noun, particle, etc.

i thnk it should stay.

 

[Amathev]

Couldn't they abolish kanji and incorporate spaces between words?

 

[ハダカ]

To ハダカ: "не кажи чепyxy!" - it's in Ukraine language and it means "don't talk nonsense!"

Рубака из независимой Прибалтики! Похвально!
I mean that many Japanese who moved to Korea are fluently use Korean in their life!