The Japanese Language

Japanese is spoken by about 125 million people. It is the main language of Japan. Japanese is special because it uses three different writing systems at the same time. These are called hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Kanji uses pictures borrowed from Chinese.

Three Ways to Write

Japanese uses three writing systems together. Hiragana is used for Japanese words. Katakana is used for words from other languages. Kanji are picture symbols that each stand for a word or idea. There are thousands of kanji. Japanese kids learn them slowly over many years.

Being Polite

Being polite is very important in Japanese. There are different ways to speak to friends, teachers, and strangers. Japanese people bow to greet each other. They say 'konnichiwa' to say hello. The language has many polite words and phrases to show respect.

Fun Facts

• Japanese has no word for 'no' that is used alone in polite speech.
• The word 'emoji' comes from Japanese and means picture character.
• Japanese is read from top to bottom and right to left in traditional books.

Did You Know?

Japanese has a special writing system with over 2,000 kanji characters that students learn before finishing school!