Cover not available
Part of
Writing Systems, Reading Processes, and Cross-Linguistic Influences: Reflections from the Chinese, Japanese and Korean Languages
Edited by Hye K. Pae
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 7] 2018
► pp. 179–200

Chapter 9
Introduction to the multi-script Japanese writing system and word processing

The general consensus among writing-systems researchers is that the Japanese writing system (JWS) is remarkably complex (Joyce, 2002a, 2011). This introductory chapter consists of two main parts that, respectively, provide an overview of the multi-script JWS and a selective review of psycholinguistic research on Japanese visual word processing. More specifically, after outlining its historical development, Part 2 focuses on the contemporary JWS and on highlighting the complex conventions that simultaneously underlie how the component scripts are employed together in essentially complementary ways while effectively sanctioning its pervasive levels of orthographic variation. In contrast, the shorter Part 3 reflects on how JWS’s complexity both poses certain challenges and also affords unique opportunities for investigating the complicated interactions involved in word processing.

Keywords: Japanese multi-script writing system, Japanese word processing, orthographic conventions, orthographic variation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.JWS
    • 2.1Historical development of the JWS
    • 2.2Contemporary JWS and its multi-scripts
      • 2.2.1Morphographic kanji
      • 2.2.2Syllabographic kana
      • 2.2.3Phonemic rōmaji, Arabic numerals and punctuation
  • 3. Psycholinguistic studies of Japanese word processing
    • 3.1Misleading, but enduring, dichotomies
    • 3.2Studies of single kanji processing
    • 3.3Studies of kana processing and kana-kanji comparisons
    • 3.4Studies of compound word processing
  • 4.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 10 July 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.7.09joy
References
Akita, K., & Hatano, G.
(1999) Learning to read and write in Japanese. In M. Harris & G. Hatano (Eds.), Learning to read and write: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 214–234). Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Backhouse, A. E.
(1984) Aspects of the graphological structure of Japanese. Visible Language, 18, 219–228.Google Scholar
Besner, D., & Hildebrandt, N.
(1987) Orthographic and phonological codes in the oral reading of Japanese kana. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13, 335–343.Google Scholar
Bunkachō [Agency for Cultural Affairs]
(2010) Jōyōkanjihyō [Jōyō kanji list]. Available at [URL] (13 November, 2016).
Chen, H-C.
(Ed.) (1997) Cognitive processing of Chinese and related Asian languages. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, H-C., & Zhou, X.
(1999) Processing East Asian languages: An introduction. Language and Cognitive Processes, 14, 425–428. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chikamatsu, N., Yokoyama, S., Nozaki, H., Long, E., & Fukuda, S.
(2000) A Japanese logographic character frequency list for cognitive science research. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32(3), 482–500. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coulmas, F.
(1989) The writing systems of the world. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
DeFrancis, J.
(1989) Visible speech: The diverse oneness of writing systems. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Fischer, S. R.
(2001) A history of writing. London: Reaktion Books.Google Scholar
Flores d’Arcais, G. B.
(1992) Graphemic, phonological and semantic activation processes during the recognition of Chinese characters. In H-C. Chen & O. J. L. Tzeng (Eds.), Language processing in Chinese (pp. 37–66). Amsterdam: North-Holland. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flores d’Arcais, G. B., & Saito, H.
(1993) Lexical decomposition of complex kanji characters in Japanese readers. Psychological Research, 55, 52–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flores d’Arcais, G. B., Saito, H., & Kawakami, M.
(1995) Phonological and semantic activation in reading kanji characters. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21, 34–42.Google Scholar
Forster, K. I.
(1976) Accessing the mental lexicon. In R. J. Wales & E. Walker (Eds.), New approaches to language mechanisms: A collection of psycholinguistic studies (pp. 257–287). Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Gottlieb, N.
(2008) Japan: Language policy and planning in transition. In R. B. Kaplan & R. B. Baldauf Jr. (Eds.), Language planning and policy in Asia, Vol. 1: Japan, Nepal, Taiwan and Chinese characters (pp. 102–169). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Habein, Y. S.
(1984) The history of the Japanese written language. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.Google Scholar
Hatta, T., & Saito, H.
(Eds.) (1999) Cognitive processing of the Japanese and Chinese languages I. Psychologia, 42(4).Google Scholar
Hatta, T., & Saito, H.
(Eds.) (2000) Cognitive processing of the Japanese and Chinese languages II. Psychologia, 43(1).Google Scholar
Hino, Y., Lupker, S. J., Ogawa, T., & Sears, C. R.
(2003) Masked repetition priming and word frequency effects across different types of Japanese scripts: An examination of the lexical activation account. Journal of Memory and Language, 48, 33–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hirose, H.
(1992) Jukugo no ninchi katei ni kan suru kenkyū: Puraimingu hō ni yoru kentō [An investigation of the recognition process for jukugo by use of priming paradigms]. Shinrigaku Kenkyū [The Japanese Journal of Psychology], 63, 303–309. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Igarashi, Y.
(2007) The changing role of katakana in the Japanese writing system: Processing and pedagogical dimensions for native speakers and foreign learners (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Google Scholar
Ijuin, M., Fushimi, T., Patterson, K., & Tatsumi, I.
(1999) A connectionist approach to Japanese kanji word naming. Psychologia, 42, 267–280.Google Scholar
Japanese Wikipedia
JIS X 0208 entry. Available at [URL] (5 November, 2016).
Joyce, T.
(2002a) The Japanese mental lexicon: The lexical retrieval and representation of two-kanji compound words from a morphological perspective (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Tsukuba, Japan.Google Scholar
(2002b) Constituent-morpheme priming: Implications from the morphology of two-kanji compound words. Japanese Psychological Research, 44, 79–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2004) Modeling the Japanese mental lexicon: Morphological, orthographic and phonological considerations. In S. P. Shohov (Ed.), Advances in psychological research: Volume 31 (pp. 27–61). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.Google Scholar
(2011) The significance of the morphographic principle for the classification of writing-systems. Written Language & Literacy, 14(1), 58–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016) Writing systems and scripts. In A. Rocci & L. de Saussure (Eds.), Verbal communication (pp. 287–308). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Joyce, T., Hodošček, B., & Masuda, H.
(2017) Constructing an ontology and database of Japanese lexical properties: Handling the orthographic complexity of the Japanese writing system. Written Language and Literacy, 20(1), 27–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Joyce, T., Hodošček, B., & Nishina, K.
(2012) Orthographic representation and variation within the Japanese writing system: Some corpus-based observations. Written Language & Literacy, 15(2), 254–278. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Joyce, T. & Masuda, H.
(2013) Constituent-morpheme priming study of Sino-Japanese and Native-Japanese compound words. Presentation given at 8th International Morphological Processing Conference, 20–22 June, Cambridge, UK.
Joyce, T., & Masuda, H.
(2016) Just mixed up or a pretty neat idea? Some reflections on the multi-script nature of the Japanese writing system. Presentation given at ‘Understanding writing systems: From core issues to implications for written language acquisition’ – 10th International Workshop on Written Language and Literacy, 12–13 May, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
(2017) From conventional to non-conventional forms of Japanese orthographic representation. Presentation given at ‘Writing systems: Past, present (… and future?) – 11th International Workshop on Written Language and Literacy, 29–13 August, Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan.
Joyce, T., Masuda, H., & Ogawa, T.
(2014) Jōyō kanji as core building blocks of the Japanese writing system: Some observations from database construction. Written Language and Literacy, 17(2), 173–194. doi DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kaiho, H., & Nomura, Y.
(1983) Kanji jōhō shori no shinrigaku [The psychology of kanji information processing]. Tokyo: Kyōiku Shuppan.Google Scholar
Kess, J. F.
(2005) On the history, use, and structure of Japanese kanji. In K. Tamaoka (Ed.), Corpus studies on Japanese kanji (pp. 1–15). Tokyo: Hituzi Syobo & Lüdenschied: RAM-Verlag.Google Scholar
Kess, J. F., & Miyamoto, T.
(1999) The Japanese mental lexicon: Psycholinguistics studies of kana and kanji processing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Kim, K.
(2012) How readers process Japanese orthography in two different texts. In K. Goodman, S. Wang, M. S. Iventosch, & Y. Goodman (Eds), Reading in Asian languages: Making sense of written texts in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (pp. 144–157). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Leong, C. K., & Tamaoka, K.
(Eds.) (1998) Cognitive processing of the Chinese and the Japanese languages. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lunde, K. R.
(1993) Understanding Japanese information processing. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly & Associates.Google Scholar
Lurie, D. B.
(2012) The development of writing in Japan. In S. D. Houston (Ed.), The shape of script: How and why writing systems change (pp. 159–185). Santa Fe, NM: School for Advanced Research Press.Google Scholar
Maekawa, K., Yamazaki, M., Ogiso, T., Maruyama, T., Ogura, H., Kashino, W., … Den, Y.
(2013) Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese. Language Resources and Evaluation, 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martin, S. E.
(1972) Nonalphabetic writing systems: Some observations. In J. F. Kavanagh & I. G. Mattingly (Eds.), Language by ear and by eye: The relationships between speech and reading (pp. 81–102). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Miller, R. A.
(1967) The Japanese language. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Masuda, H., & Joyce, T.
(2018) Constituent-priming investigations of the morphological activation of Japanese compound words. In H. K. Pae (Ed.), Writing systems, reading processes, and cross-linguistic influences: Reflections from the Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mizuno, R.
(1997) Kanji hyōkigo no onin shori jidōka kasetsu no kenshō [A test of a hypothesis of automatic phonological processing of kanji words]. Shinrigaku Kenkyū [The Japanese Journal of Psychology], 68, 1–8. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Myers, J.
(2006) Processing Chinese compounds: A survey of the literature. In G. Libben & G. Jarema (Eds.), The representation and processing of compound words (pp. 169–196). Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Nomura, M.
(1988) Niji kango no kōzō [The structure of two-kanji Sino-Japanese words]. Nihongogaku, 7(5), 44–55.Google Scholar
Okada, T.
(2016) Japanese uses of the English writing system: A case study. In V. Cook & D. Ryan (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of the English writing system (pp. 397–412). Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Paradis, M., Hagiwara, H., & Hildebrandt, N.
(1985) Neurolinguistic aspects of the Japanese writing system. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Saito, H.
(1997) Shinteki jisho [Mental lexicon]. In Y. Matsumoto, T. Kageyama, M. Nagata, H. Saito, & T. Tokunaga (Eds.), Iwanami kōza gengo no kagaku 3: Tango to jisho [Iwanamo lectures: Science of language 3. Words and dictionaries] (pp. 93–153). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.Google Scholar
Saito, H.
(2006) Orthographic processing. In M. Nakayama, R. Mazuka, & Y. Shirai (Eds.), The handbook of East Asian psycholinguistics, Volume II: Japanese (pp. 233–240). Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, H., Masuda, H., & Kawakami, M.
(1998) Form and sound similarity effects in kanji recognition. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 10(3/5), 323–357. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sato, H.
(2015) Do different orthographies share the same mechanisms of reading? A review of research on and models for Japanese acquired dyslexia. Aphasiology, 29(10), 1–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sakuma, N., Sasanuma, S., Tatsumi, I. F., & Masaki, S.
(1998) Orthography and phonology in reading Japanese kanji words: Evidence from the semantic decision task with homophones. Memory & Cognition, 26, 75–87. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seeley, C.
(1984) The Japanese script since 1900. Visible Language, 18, 267–301.Google Scholar
(1991) A history of writing in Japan. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Shibatani, M.
(1990) The languages of Japan. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Shimamura, A. P.
(1987) Word comprehension and naming: An analysis of English and Japanese orthographies. American Journal of Psychology, 100, 15–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shimomura, M. & Yokosawa, K.
(1995) The processing of constituent characters in kanji words in proofreading Japanese sentences. Psychological Research, 58, 51–60.Google Scholar
Shinmura, I.
(2008) Kōjien [Japanese dictionary] (6th ed.). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.Google Scholar
Smith, J. S.
(1996) Japanese writing. In P. T. Daniels & W. Bright (Eds.), The world’s writing systems (pp. 209–217). Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Sproat, R.
(2010) Language, technology, and society. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Steinberg, D. D., & Yamada, J.
(1978–1979) Are whole word kanji easier to learn than syllable kana? Reading Research Quarterly, 14, 88–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stroop, J. R.
(1935) Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–622. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taft, M., Liu, Y., & Zhu, X.
(1999) Morphemic processing in reading Chinese. In J. Wang, A. Inhoff, & H.-C. Chen (Eds.), Reading Chinese script: A cognitive analysis (pp. 91–113). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Taft, M., & Zhu, X.
(1997) Submorphemic processing in reading Chinese. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 23, 761–775.Google Scholar
Tamaoka, K.
(1991) Psycholinguistic nature of Japanese orthography. Studies in Language and Literature, 11, 49–82.Google Scholar
(1994) A review of psychological studies of kana and kanji: A single phonological route to a multiple interactive activation. Studies in Language and Literature, 13, 1–18.Google Scholar
Tamaoka, K., & Hatsuzuka, M.
(1998) The effects of morphological semantics on the processing of Japanese two-kanji compound words. Reading and Writing, 10, 293–322. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor, I., & Park, K.
(1995) Differential processing of content words and function words: Chinese characters vs. phonetic scripts. In I. Taylor & D. R. Olson (Eds.), Scripts and literacy: Reading and learning to read alphabets, syllabaries and characters (pp. 185–195). Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor, I., & Taylor, M. M.
(2014) Writing and literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese (rev. ed.). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Tranter, N.
(2008) Nonconventional script choice in Japan. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 192, 133–151.Google Scholar
Twine, N.
(1991) Language and the modern state: The reform of written Japanese. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Wydell, T. N.
(1991) Processing in the reading of Japanese: Comparative studies between English and Japanese orthographies (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). London University, UK.Google Scholar
(2006) Lexical access. In M. Nakayama, R. Mazuka, & Y. Shirai (Eds.), The handbook of East Asian psycholinguistics, Volume II: Japanese (pp. 241–248). Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wydell, T. N., Patterson, K. E., & Humphreys, G. W.
(1993) Phonologically mediated access to meaning for kanji: Is a rows still a rose in Japanese kanji? Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 491–514. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yamada, J.
(1997) Learning and information processing of kanji and kana. Hiroshima: Keisuisha.Google Scholar
(1998) The time course of semantic and phonological access in naming kanji and kana words. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 10(3/5), 425–437. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yamada, T.
(1967) Japan – The writing system: Historical research and modern development. In T. A. Sebeok (Ed.), Current trends in linguistics (Vol. 2, pp. 693–734). The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 7 other publications

Joyce, Terry & Hisashi Masuda
2019. On the notions of graphematic representation and orthography from the perspective of the Japanese writing system. Written Language & Literacy 22:2 ► pp. 247 ff. DOI logo
Joyce, Terry & Dimitrios Meletis
2021. Alternative criteria for writing system typology. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 40:3 ► pp. 257 ff. DOI logo
Masuda, Hisashi & Terry Joyce
2018. Chapter 11. Constituent-priming investigations of the morphological activation of Japanese compound words. In Writing Systems, Reading Processes, and Cross-Linguistic Influences [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 7], ► pp. 221 ff. DOI logo
Pae, Hye K.
2018. Chapter 1. Written languages, East-Asian scripts, and cross-linguistic influences. In Writing Systems, Reading Processes, and Cross-Linguistic Influences [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 7], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Pae, Hye K.
2020. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Writing Systems: All East-Asian but Different Scripts. In Script Effects as the Hidden Drive of the Mind, Cognition, and Culture [Literacy Studies, 21], ► pp. 71 ff. DOI logo
Pae, Hye K., Sun-A Kim & Xiao (Peter) Luo
2018. Chapter 21. Constituent processing or gestalt processing?. In Writing Systems, Reading Processes, and Cross-Linguistic Influences [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 7], ► pp. 427 ff. DOI logo
Yum, Yen Na & Sam-Po Law
2021. N170 reflects visual familiarity and automatic sublexical phonological access in L2 written word processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 24:4 ► pp. 670 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 may 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.