- Introduction
- Basic Greetings
- Japanese Writing Systems
- Hiragana
- Katakana
- The Small "っ"
- Kanji
- Basic Sentence Structure
- Sources
Introduction to the Japanese Form of Writing
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/9/8/11981960/6480970.gif)
Before the 4th century AD, the Japanese did not have a writing system of their own. During the 5th century they began to import and adapt the Chinese script. As time went on, Japan eventually simplified the Chinese characters and adapted them for their own use. The Chinese were eventually formed into Kanji, the Japanese peoples' own adaptation of the Chinese symbols. Certain Kanji characters were eventually simplified even more, to Kana characters. There are two styles of Kana characters, that each have their own sepparate uses. The first style, is Hiragana. The second is katakana. Hiragana characters are used to pronounce native Japanese words, that can eventually be written as Kanji as your knowledge of the language expands. Katakana is used to write words that are not native to the language, such as コンピュ-タ- meaning computer. Japan has also adopted Roman characters, called Romaji, to help non native speakers pronounce and learn the language. Romaji is not commonly used in Japan, so learning the writing systems is very important to anyone wishing to speak Japanese. Also, it is useful to know that is stroke order is very important in Japanese writing.