Question:
How do japanese read books?
anonymous
2007-05-08 00:02:06 UTC
How do japanese read books?
Eighteen answers:
anonymous
2007-05-08 00:09:05 UTC
From back to front.
purifoy
2017-01-16 20:41:59 UTC
Read Japanese Books
anonymous
2016-12-25 04:38:05 UTC
1
amadanmath
2007-05-08 00:19:17 UTC
Back to front is a little misleading (it would be pretty strange to start with an epilogue). Say rather that traditional Japanese books are bound in such a way that the seam is at the right side when you are facing an unopened book's front page :), and they turn the pages in the opposite direction than the latin-lettered world. The layout on the page is traditionally ordered in columns, not rows, going from the right side of the page towards left.



However, under the influence of the said latin-lettered world, some publications are now printed in western fashion. These are mostly those that expect some non-japanese mix-ins: mathematics, chemistry, language instruction etc.
john
2007-05-08 00:22:48 UTC
In the old times Japanese didn't have a written language only a spoken one, but when the Chinese came The Chinese way of writing was adopted. That is why in those times both Chinese and Japanese used to write vertically in the form of columns and the columns where written from right to left. So if you where to read a Japanese book from those times you would start on the top right corner of the page and read downwards.



Nowadays, the Japanese have adopted the Western way of reading and writing, so it has become the same as our way of reading, but some magazines and books still write in a way the way that you have to change the pages from left to right (bacwards) but the written text is written horizontally.



Some old books are still written horizontally though.
xx_gawjuzz_xx
2007-05-08 02:23:00 UTC
What we think is the back page of a book is their front page so really their books are back to front or are our books back to front?? hmmm lol! They read top to the bottom and left to the right. When you first read a Japanese book its super weird but when you have read 10000000 like i have its the English books that are wrong! lol. I hope that helped! Japanese is the best language!





** that guy, freezer, you are very rude to say that 'joke' its not funny and if you knew a japanese person you would change your mind very quick, its sad how the world is quickly turning so racist! Generations of people like him disgust me**
Xx
2007-05-08 00:17:44 UTC
Traditionally, Japanese books are read right to left, and vertically rather than horizontally. Unlike English, it can be written and read in a variety of ways, including the English style. So something that may seem "backward" is perfectly natural to them.



There are three similar-but-different Japanese alphabets. The first and most common is Hiragana (phonetic). They use these symbols to form words. Another common alphabet is the Katakana. With this alphabet, they can incorporate words from other languages not natural to Japan. (ie, since "Pinapple" is foreign to Japan, they use the characters Pa I Na Po Ru to make a word that sounds like pineapple). The last alphabet is the Kanji alphabet. These are actually words, and can be combined with other Kanji to create different words. Like, the word for "center" can be combined with the words for "school" to create middle school.



Most books are written with a mixture of the three alphabets, but they are different enough that it isn't too difficult to tell them apart.
anonymous
2007-05-08 00:19:06 UTC
Hey Please don't listen to the stupid answers above (except Bealmira). The japanese read books from (what we count as) the backpage to the front page. each line is vertical, so they read from top to bottom, the right to left.



x...Kotonii and Will.
sweet pea
2007-05-08 11:08:04 UTC
like chinese do...

they open their book from left to right..

and read from top to bottom ... right to left



but some books are already published like english books... =)
Kathy
2017-03-03 16:03:10 UTC
Watching tv is simpler but I enjoy reading literature more
?
2017-02-02 15:15:10 UTC
while reading a written e book, you're stimulating the human brain. You increase your literacy and reading skills and you simply in the process, are more literate. Even with today's modern technology, you nevertheless still need to have the ability to read.

While you're watching t.v. can be good fun, it is not doing anything to your brain.
?
2016-09-20 17:31:11 UTC
I often end up writing the same question on other sites
anonymous
2007-05-08 00:10:30 UTC
Back to front.

Left to right.

Top to bottom.
Jess
2007-05-08 00:10:59 UTC
one word at a time.
?
2016-07-29 06:20:27 UTC
Not sure about this
anonymous
2007-05-08 00:14:27 UTC
braille,because their eyes are so damned tight they can't see.
Slug
2007-05-08 00:07:32 UTC
how do you read books?



^^^^^^^^



answer
?
2016-08-24 05:42:04 UTC
thanks to each and every one of you for the replies!


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...