Abstract

Characters, along with the paper and stone monuments in which they were written, are something that transcend time and space. Even if their pronunciations become archaic, if there is something about these Japanese characters and their readings that feels right, it is perhaps because they embody the sensibilities, intuition, and intelligence cultivated by our ancestors who spoke the Japanese language while living in a land rich in nature. If we are willing to interpret, we can find unexpected ideas and delicate emotions in the way the parts used in these Japanese characters are selected and assembled. Some of these Japanese characters even made their way to China and Korea. From among these kinds of Japanese characters, we will select characters that are particularly packed with various information and describe their history and characteristics in an easy-to-understand manner. Let's look at each character together from now on. (From the author's "Introduction")

Author’s Information

Born in Tokyo in 1965. Professor at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Waseda University. Holds a PhD in Literature. His book, "The Phases and Development of Kokuji" (Sanseido), received the Kindaichi Kyosuke Memorial Award and the Ritsumeikan Shirakawa Shizuka Memorial Award for Oriental Character Culture. He has also been involved in the establishment, revision, and amendment of various standards, including the Digital Agency's "Standard Characters for Administrative Affairs," the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's "JIS Kanji," the Ministry of Justice's Legislative Council's "Kanji for Personal Names," the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Cultural Affairs Council's "Commonly Used Kanji," and NHK's broadcasting terminology. His numerous publications include "Japanese Kanji" (Iwanami Shoten), "The History of Kanji: A Story of Old and New Characters" (Chikuma Shobo), "Mysterious Kanji" (Chuokoron Shinsha), "Dialect Kanji" (KADOKAWA), and "Dictionary of Dialect Kanji" (Kenkyusha).