Kanji

Kanji is the most complicated and tricky to master of the three scripts, with a knowledge of about 2000 characters required for daily life in Japan. They are either hieroglyphs: which are characters that refer to nouns, such as "mountain," or compound ideographs, which arise from the combination of hieroglyphic characters to form conceptual words. Kanji can also represent adjectives and verb stems.

Hiragana and Katakana

Hiragana and Katakana are classed as kana writing systems. Hiragana is flowing, whilst katakana is sharper in appearance. Both represent the Japanese syllabary with a set of 48 characters, each based on Kanji characters commonly associated with their sound. Hiragana is used primarily for particles and words without Kanji, while Katakana is used for international loan words, onomatopoeia and italics.

Keigo and Dialects

Japanese distinguishes between colloquial, polite and respectful language, the latter of which is Keigo. This is the honorific or deeply formal and respectful version, which achieves politeness through different ways of expressing certain phrases and words, as well as the use of alternative verb endings. While Japanese has a standardized form recognized by all, and centered around the Tokyo region, it also has a diverse number of regional dialects. This is attributed to the long history of the language, as well as the initial isolation of the Japanese islands.

Useful Japanese Expressions

Greetings

Appreciation

Apologies

Meetings

Meals

Others