Question
of the Week
Vol. 45
Q. What is Furigana?
A. Furigana are used as a reading aid for Japanese. They are the smaller kana placed above or alongside kanji to indicate its pronunciation. Here are the main usages of furigana.
- Furigana are commonly used for children, who might not recognize kanji, but are able to read the word when written in hiragana. Since children usually learn hiragana before katakana, some books for very young children even have hiragana furigana next to the katakana.
- Used on words written in uncommon or difficult-to-read kanji for adults.
- Used in Japanese language textbooks for foreign students.
- Used alongside kanji names because there are many different possibilities for readings. Japanese official forms always have an adjacent column for the name to be written in furigana.
Once you have learned hiragana and katakana, and want to try reading Japanese web pages for practice, try out these sites.
