The Japanese script reform is the attempt to correlate standard spoken Japanese with the written word, which began during the Meiji period. This issue is known in Japan as the kokugo kokuji mondai (国語国字問題, national language and script problem?). The reforms led to the development of the modern Japanese written language, and explain the arguments for official policies used to determine the usage and teaching of kanji rarely used in Japan.
Pre-War reforms
Though there is a general misconception that the attempt to abolish kanji through the modernization of kana usage and issuance of a list containing only a limited number of accepted kanji originated from the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan, a plan had already been put into place prior to the occupation. A proposal to eliminate certain kanji from use was implemented in a number of regions and overseas territories near the end of the Taishō period.
In November, 1922, the rinji kokugo chōsakai (臨時国語調査会, Temporary National Language Investigation Committee?) (the precursor to the Japanese Language Council) selected and approved a list of 1962 kanji characters for daily use. This group of characters formed the basis for the tōyō kanji list, which eventually developed into the modern jōyō kanji list. In December, 1923, the committee approved a set of reforms for kana usage; the prototype for the modern kana system.
Reforms
The reforms made after the Second World War have had a particularly significant impact on accepted kanji usage in the modern Japanese language.
In April, 1946, Naoya Shiga published an article in the magazine Kaizō titled kokugo mondai (国語問題, the national language problem?), which suggested that the Japanese language should be eradicated in favour of French, which he considered to be the most beautiful language in the world. On 12 November, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper published an editorial concerning the abolition of kanji, and on 31 March, the first American Education Delegation arrived in Japan at the invitation of the SCAP and issued its first report. The report pointed out the difficulties concerning kanji use, and advocated the use of rōmaji, which they considered more convenient. As a result, the gradual abolition of kanji became official policy for the SCAP, and the tōyō kanji list and modern kana usage proposals were drawn up in accordance with this policy.
Tōyō kanji
The tōyō kanji list, containing 1850 characters, was published by the cabinet on 16 November 1946 with the intention of completely abolishing the use of kanji in the future. The list reduced the number of kanji deemed appropriate for daily use, and categorized certain kanji for specific use in official publications and documents.
Prior to this reform, an attempt had been made to simplify several complex characters, but was not conducted with a systematic simplification of elements and radicals the way China would develop its simplified writing system a decade later. In Japan, changes were only made to complex characters that needed to be abbreviated.
Another separate attempt was made to limit the number of kanji readings, but the first list proved much too restrictive. For instance, the character 魚 had its readings limited to gyo and uo when the most common reading, sakana, was not officially recognized by the list. These shortcomings were acknowledged in the revised list of tōyō kanji, published on 28 June 1972.
On 5 July 1956, the Japanese Language Council announced a list of substitute characters for words that contained characters not on the official list in an effort to ease the implementation of tōyō kanji. This use of alternative, common kanji in place of rarer ones was called kakikae (書きかえ, kakikae?).
Different spellings for words were unified using characters from the tōyō kanji list. The list below shows some examples, with the non-tōyō kanji placed in brackets.
注文 (註文) chūmon (order, request)
遺跡 (遺蹟) iseki (historic ruins)
更生 (甦生) kōsei (rebirth, originally read sosei, and may be written as 蘇生 to reflect the original reading)
知恵 (智慧) chie (wisdom)
略奪 (掠奪) ryakudatsu (pillage, plunder)
妨害 (妨碍, 妨礙) bōgai (jamming, interference)
意向 (意嚮) ikō (intention, idea)
講和 (媾和) kōwa (reconciliation, peace)
格闘 (挌闘) kakutō (fighting)
書簡 (書翰) shokan (letter, epistle)
Jargon and other specialized words that could be written in more than one way were generally written using characters from the list.
骨格 (骨骼) kokkaku (skeletal structure)
奇形 (畸形) kikei (birth defect)
Other words that used kanji that were not included in the list were given phonetic substitutes.
防御 (防禦) bōgyo (defence)
扇動 (煽動) sendō (abet, agitate)
英知 (叡智) eichi (wisdom)
混交 (混淆) konkō (mix together)
激高 (激昂) gekikō (excited, enraged)
However, the recent prevalence of computers has made it easier for Japanese speakers to identify and use rarer characters, and the idea of having a list of approved characters has come into reconsideration. The Japanese media has increasingly used non-approved kanji with furigana to aid the reader in place of mazegaki.
Kanji for names
On 16 February 1948, 881 of the tōyō kanji were designated to be taught during primary education, and became known as the kyōiku kanji (education kanji).
In the same year, Article 50 of the family register law made it illegal to name a child using characters not on the official list. When this law first came into effect, the Ministry of Justice declared that all newborn babies must be registered in the koseki (the Japanese family registry) with a name that used only hiragana, katakana or tōyō kanji. However, in 1951, an additional 92 characters were approved by the government as jinmeiyō kanji; kanji acceptable for use in names. This list was modified in 1997 to increase to a total of 285 characters. At the time, eight characters from the original jinmeiyō kanji list were added to the jōyō kanji (daily use) list, and were removed from the group of jinmeiyō kanji.
On 27 September 2004, another 488 kanji were approved for use in names, partly as a result of the ruling by the Sapporo High Court that it was unacceptable for so many common characters to be excluded from use in names simply because they were not part of the official list. 578 characters were initially added, though some characters unsuitable for names such as 怨 (grudge, resent), 痔 (haemorrhoids) and 屍 (corpse) were removed as a result of public feedback.
Pre-War reforms
Though there is a general misconception that the attempt to abolish kanji through the modernization of kana usage and issuance of a list containing only a limited number of accepted kanji originated from the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan, a plan had already been put into place prior to the occupation. A proposal to eliminate certain kanji from use was implemented in a number of regions and overseas territories near the end of the Taishō period.
In November, 1922, the rinji kokugo chōsakai (臨時国語調査会, Temporary National Language Investigation Committee?) (the precursor to the Japanese Language Council) selected and approved a list of 1962 kanji characters for daily use. This group of characters formed the basis for the tōyō kanji list, which eventually developed into the modern jōyō kanji list. In December, 1923, the committee approved a set of reforms for kana usage; the prototype for the modern kana system.
Reforms
The reforms made after the Second World War have had a particularly significant impact on accepted kanji usage in the modern Japanese language.
In April, 1946, Naoya Shiga published an article in the magazine Kaizō titled kokugo mondai (国語問題, the national language problem?), which suggested that the Japanese language should be eradicated in favour of French, which he considered to be the most beautiful language in the world. On 12 November, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper published an editorial concerning the abolition of kanji, and on 31 March, the first American Education Delegation arrived in Japan at the invitation of the SCAP and issued its first report. The report pointed out the difficulties concerning kanji use, and advocated the use of rōmaji, which they considered more convenient. As a result, the gradual abolition of kanji became official policy for the SCAP, and the tōyō kanji list and modern kana usage proposals were drawn up in accordance with this policy.
Tōyō kanji
The tōyō kanji list, containing 1850 characters, was published by the cabinet on 16 November 1946 with the intention of completely abolishing the use of kanji in the future. The list reduced the number of kanji deemed appropriate for daily use, and categorized certain kanji for specific use in official publications and documents.
Prior to this reform, an attempt had been made to simplify several complex characters, but was not conducted with a systematic simplification of elements and radicals the way China would develop its simplified writing system a decade later. In Japan, changes were only made to complex characters that needed to be abbreviated.
Another separate attempt was made to limit the number of kanji readings, but the first list proved much too restrictive. For instance, the character 魚 had its readings limited to gyo and uo when the most common reading, sakana, was not officially recognized by the list. These shortcomings were acknowledged in the revised list of tōyō kanji, published on 28 June 1972.
On 5 July 1956, the Japanese Language Council announced a list of substitute characters for words that contained characters not on the official list in an effort to ease the implementation of tōyō kanji. This use of alternative, common kanji in place of rarer ones was called kakikae (書きかえ, kakikae?).
Different spellings for words were unified using characters from the tōyō kanji list. The list below shows some examples, with the non-tōyō kanji placed in brackets.
注文 (註文) chūmon (order, request)
遺跡 (遺蹟) iseki (historic ruins)
更生 (甦生) kōsei (rebirth, originally read sosei, and may be written as 蘇生 to reflect the original reading)
知恵 (智慧) chie (wisdom)
略奪 (掠奪) ryakudatsu (pillage, plunder)
妨害 (妨碍, 妨礙) bōgai (jamming, interference)
意向 (意嚮) ikō (intention, idea)
講和 (媾和) kōwa (reconciliation, peace)
格闘 (挌闘) kakutō (fighting)
書簡 (書翰) shokan (letter, epistle)
Jargon and other specialized words that could be written in more than one way were generally written using characters from the list.
骨格 (骨骼) kokkaku (skeletal structure)
奇形 (畸形) kikei (birth defect)
Other words that used kanji that were not included in the list were given phonetic substitutes.
防御 (防禦) bōgyo (defence)
扇動 (煽動) sendō (abet, agitate)
英知 (叡智) eichi (wisdom)
混交 (混淆) konkō (mix together)
激高 (激昂) gekikō (excited, enraged)
However, the recent prevalence of computers has made it easier for Japanese speakers to identify and use rarer characters, and the idea of having a list of approved characters has come into reconsideration. The Japanese media has increasingly used non-approved kanji with furigana to aid the reader in place of mazegaki.
Kanji for names
On 16 February 1948, 881 of the tōyō kanji were designated to be taught during primary education, and became known as the kyōiku kanji (education kanji).
In the same year, Article 50 of the family register law made it illegal to name a child using characters not on the official list. When this law first came into effect, the Ministry of Justice declared that all newborn babies must be registered in the koseki (the Japanese family registry) with a name that used only hiragana, katakana or tōyō kanji. However, in 1951, an additional 92 characters were approved by the government as jinmeiyō kanji; kanji acceptable for use in names. This list was modified in 1997 to increase to a total of 285 characters. At the time, eight characters from the original jinmeiyō kanji list were added to the jōyō kanji (daily use) list, and were removed from the group of jinmeiyō kanji.
On 27 September 2004, another 488 kanji were approved for use in names, partly as a result of the ruling by the Sapporo High Court that it was unacceptable for so many common characters to be excluded from use in names simply because they were not part of the official list. 578 characters were initially added, though some characters unsuitable for names such as 怨 (grudge, resent), 痔 (haemorrhoids) and 屍 (corpse) were removed as a result of public feedback.