Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This work presents quantitative-qualitative analysis of perceived kanji difficulty among native speakers and learners of Japanese. Stroke count, radicals, and lexical familiarity were rated high as difficulty predictors, but empirical results show that perception may not correspond to performance.

Paper long abstract

This study investigates how learners and native speakers perceive kanji difficulty, based on 65 detailed survey responses. Participants were presented with five groups of five kanji pairs, each differing in one trait: frequency, stroke count, number of readings, number of meanings, and concreteness of meaning. Before making pairwise judgments, participants indicated which factors they believed most influence difficulty. This design allows comparison between stated beliefs and actual selections, as well as differences between proficiency groups.

Results reveal two key contrasts. First, both learners and native speakers claim stroke count and radicals are primary determinants of difficulty. However, their choices tell a more nuanced story. Learners disproportionately judged kanji with unfamiliar components or multiple readings as harder, while native speakers were more sensitive to subtle visual distinctions and semantic nuance. Across all responses, recognisable components, stroke count, and lexical familiarity emerged as dominant predictors, with mean influence scores above 2.1 on a 0–3 scale. Visual similarity strongly shaped judgments, exemplified by 未/末, where 末 was chosen as harder in 63% of cases, despite being more frequent. This suggest that human perception of frequency may be unreliable. In contrast, formal indicators such as JLPT level (mean 1.03) and school grade of instruction (1.06) were weak predictors, indicating that curricular labels do not match intuitive difficulty.

Qualitative comments reinforce these findings. Learners emphasised memorisation strategies, radicals, and vocabulary exposure, while native speakers mentioned graphical balance and stroke order. Symmetry and overall shape were mentioned but ranked low in quantitative influence. Several participants noted that familiarity through repeated exposure significantly reduced perceived difficulty.

What learners and natives believe is difficult may not correspond to error patterns or acquisition speed. Therefore, the next step is to contrast these perceptual biases with empirical data to identify where intuition diverges from reality.T his research provides a foundation for understanding perceptual bias (mainly overestimation of stroke count importance, and lack of frequency awareness) and its role in shaping effective, data-driven approaches to kanji acquisition.

Send message to Authors

Paper short abstract

Japanese vocabulary consists of three strata with distinct phonotactics. This study tested whether phonotactics guide kana choice (hiragana vs. katakana) across age groups using low-familiarity and nonce words. Results show strong phonotactic effects with developmental shifts to lexical knowledge.

Paper long abstract

Japanese vocabulary is traditionally divided into three strata—native (wago), Sino-Japanese (kango), and loanwords (gairaigo)—each characterized by distinct phonotactic patterns.Previous research has shown that phonotactic characteristics influence lexical stratum inference, and recent large-scale studies have demonstrated that clusters corresponding to lexical strata can be learned from phonological information alone. Appropriate orthographic choice according to lexical stratum relies on accumulated phonotactic knowledge specific to each stratum from auditory experience. However, the mechanisms by which phonotactic cues are utilized to infer lexical stratum and guide orthographic selection remain unclear. Moreover, little is known about how this mapping process changes across development.

This study investigated whether phonotactics guide kana orthographic choice (hiragana vs. katakana) and how this process differs across age groups. To minimize lexical and orthographic knowledge effects, we employed low-familiarity real words and nonce words. A total of 21 stimuli were used: 10 low-familiarity real words, 2 nonce words, 5 onomatopoeic words, and 4 words with variable orthographic usage. All stimuli were presented auditorily, and participants judged whether each word should be written in hiragana or katakana, with a 15-second response limit. Participants included 21 adults and 96 primary school children.

Results revealed systematic effects of phonotactic patterns on orthographic choice. Stimuli with native-like phonotactics elicited higher hiragana selection rates across all age groups. Conversely, stimuli with loanword-like features (voiced consonants, geminated consonants, long vowels) showed higher katakana selection rates, with particularly strong effects observed for nonce words. Onomatopoeic words and words compatible with multiple lexical strata exhibited more balanced selection patterns. Developmental differences were also observed. Younger children relied more strongly on phonotactic cues, whereas older children showed increased influence of lexical experience and orthographic conventions. For example, hiragana selection for the low-frequency native word /kamachi/ declined substantially from younger to older children.

These findings suggest that phonotactic features serve as robust cues for lexical stratum inference and orthographic selection, even at early developmental stages. Furthermore, the results support a dynamic inferential account in which phonotactic cues initially dominate orthographic choice but are gradually integrated with lexical knowledge and orthographic conventions as linguistic experience accumulates.

Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper examines the Yuhap tradition in Japan and Chosŏn Korea, asking how "correct" kanji/hanja forms were selected in literacy primers outside China. Comparing comparable primers, it shows Japan and Korea developed unique character-form choices rather than replicating a single Chinese standard.

Paper long abstract

This paper studies the Yuhap textual tradition in Japan and Chosŏn Korea. It asks how "correct" kanji/hanja forms were selected and stabilized in literacy primers outside China. The core source is the Chosŏn-printed Sinjeung Yuhap (1574), an expanded Yuhap. For Japan, I use Ruigō-related witnesses for comparison, including Kaibara Ekiken's Senji Ruigō (1692).

I focus on editorial decisions: the character forms preferred in each witness. I select a controlled sample of characters that show clear graphic variation. I classify the differences into four types: component substitution, stroke modification, structural adjustment, and adoption of variant forms.

I then read these patterns together with "norm signals" on the page, such as prefaces and usage notes. I also compare the selected forms with reference traditions: Chinese character dictionaries, Japanese and Korean dictionaries, and calligraphic exemplars.

Because kanji/hanja originated in China, discussions of "standard characters" often presuppose that a China-based standard simply diffused outward. This paper takes a different approach. It traces how character forms were selected, fixed, or revised across editions of the Yuhap tradition in Japan and Chosŏn Korea. Even within a shared framework, form choices diverged in consistent ways. I relate these divergences to target learners, local criteria for "proper" forms, and editors' scholarly backgrounds.

By comparing these differences to the dictionaries and calligraphic exemplars, the paper shows that "standard" character-form judgments in Japan and Korea were not identical. These differences can be traced in specific primers and edition practices around the seventeenth century.