{"id":107037,"date":"2023-05-31T21:08:29","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T01:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/japanese-punctuation\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T05:40:54","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T10:40:54","slug":"japanese-punctuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/japanese-punctuation\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Japanese Punctuation Marks You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japanese punctuation, also known as \u7d04\u7269<\/a> (\u3084\u304f\u3082\u306e) \u2014 <\/strong>yakumono<\/strong>,<\/em> includes all the written marks in Japanese that aren\u2019t numbers, \u4eee\u540d (\u304b\u306a) \u2014 kana or \u6f22\u5b57 (\u304b\u3093\u3058 ) \u2014 kanji.\u00a0Surprisingly, it’s a fairly recent addition to the language. In fact, it was barely used at all<\/a> until Japan began translating texts from Europe in the 19th century.<\/p>\n

Now, though, punctuation has become the final spice in the dish that is the Japanese language, and it\u2019s vital for written communication.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u3010 \u3011\u2014 Lenticular Brackets<\/h2>\n

Lenticular brackets are known as \u58a8\u4ed8\u304d\u62ec\u5f27\u00a0(\u3059\u307f\u3064\u304d \u304b\u3063\u3053)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/strong>sumitsuki kakko<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(ink-filled brackets) in Japanese.<\/p>\n

These brackets are unique to Japan and aren’t used in English. As with all types of parentheses and brackets, lenticular brackets are used to interject or separate chunks of text\u00a0<\/strong>from a sentence or paragraph.<\/p>\n

These particular brackets are usually only found in typed Japanese<\/a><\/strong> so you’ll see them online pretty often.<\/p>\n

They don’t have any one particular purpose, but they’re especially useful for really making the bracketed statement stand out.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you’re on YouTube searching for music videos, you may come across titles like this one:<\/p>\n

\u3010\u97f3\u697d\u5bb6\u306e\u540d\u524d\u3011\u66f2\u540d (\u3010 \u304a\u3093\u304c\u304f\u304b \u306e \u306a\u307e\u3048\u3011\u304d\u3087\u304f\u3081\u3044 )
\n\u3010ongakuka no namae\u3011kyokumei<\/em>
\n\u3010\u00a0Musician’s Name\u3011Song Title.<\/p>\n

\u300c \u300d\u2014 Singular Quotation Marks<\/h2>\n

\u9264\u62ec\u5f27 (\u304b\u304e \u304b\u3063\u3053) \u2014 kagi kakko<\/em> <\/strong>(key brackets)\u00a0are the Japanese equivalent of quotation marks.<\/p>\n

In handwritten and typed Japanese, use these characters when denoting dialogue or quoting anything.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u4eac\u5b50\u306f\u300c\u5916\u306b\u98df\u3079\u306b\u884c\u3053\u3046\u300d\u3068\u8a00\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002
\n(\u304d\u3087\u3046\u3053 \u306f\u300c \u305d\u3068\u306b \u305f\u3079\u306b \u3044\u3053\u3046\u300d \u3068 \u3044\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f \u3002)\u00a0
\nKy\u014dko wa ‘soto ni tabe ni ik\u014d’ to iimashita.<\/em>
\n“Let’s go out to eat,” Kyoko said.<\/p>\n

\u300e \u300f\u2014 Double Quotation Marks<\/h2>\n

These marks are known as double quotation marks or \u4e8c\u91cd\u9264\u62ec\u5f27 (\u306b\u3058\u3085\u3046 \u304b\u304e \u304b\u3063\u3053) \u2014 niju kagi kakko,<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and they’re used as quotes within quotes<\/strong> in Japanese. They’re primarily typed.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u3042\u3086\u307f\u306f\u300c\u4eac\u5b50\u306f\u300e\u5916\u306b\u98df\u3079\u306b\u884c\u3053\u3046\u300f\u3068\u8a00\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u300d\u3068\u8a00\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002
\n(\u3042\u3086\u307f \u306f\u300c \u304d\u3087\u3046\u3053 \u306f\u300e \u305d\u3068\u306b \u305f\u3079\u306b \u3044\u3053\u3046\u300f \u3068 \u3044\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002 \u300d \u3068 \u3044\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002)
\nAyumi wa ‘Ky\u014dko wa ‘soto ni tabe ni ik\u014d’ to iimashita.’ to iimashita.<\/em>
\n“‘Let’s go out to eat,’ Kyoko said,” said Ayumi.<\/p>\n

This may seem a little confusing at first, but it’s really identical to how quotes within quotes are used in English.<\/p>\n

\u3001\u2014 Comma<\/h2>\n

The comma, \u8aad\u70b9\u00a0(\u3068\u3046\u3066\u3093) \u2014 toten,<\/em><\/strong> is used to divide sentences into segments, separate items in a list and to deliver asides. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Just be sure you use the correct Japanese “\u3001” comma instead of the English “,” comma.<\/p>\n

Example<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u4e00\u3001\u4e8c\u3001\u4e09\u3001\u56db\u3001\u4e94\u3002 (\u3044\u3061\u3001\u306b\u3001\u3055\u3093\u3001\u3057\u3001\u3054\u3002)
\nIchi, Ni, San, Shi, Go.<\/em>
\nOne, two, three, four, five.<\/p>\n

\u2026\u00a0\u2014 Ellipsis<\/h2>\n

\u4e09\u70b9\u30ea\u30fc\u30c0\u30fc (\u3055\u3093\u3066\u3093 \u308a\u30fc\u3060\u30fc) \u2014 santen r\u012bd\u0101 <\/em><\/strong>(ellipsis)\u00a0are used in Japanese the same way as in English, but more often<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whether you need to indicate a pause, a length of time or a moment of awkwardness,<\/strong> an ellipsis is the way to go.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u79c1\u306f\u672c\u5f53\u306b\u4e0d\u5668\u7528\u3067\u3059\u2026 (\u308f\u305f\u3057 \u306f \u307b\u3093\u3068\u3046 \u306b \u3076\u304d\u3088\u3046 \u3067\u3059\u2026)
\nWatashi wa hont\u014dni bukiy\u014d desu…<\/em>
\nI am very clumsy…<\/p>\n

\u3002\u2014 Period or “Full Stop”<\/h2>\n

This one’s pretty simple. The full stop or \u53e5\u70b9\u00a0(\u304f\u3066\u3093) \u2014\u00a0kuten<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is the Japanese period. It marks the end of a sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u53cb\u9054\u306b\u306a\u308a\u307e\u3057\u3087\u3046\u3002 (\u3068\u3082\u3060\u3061 \u306b \u306a\u308a\u307e\u3057\u3087\u3046\u3002 )
\nTomodachi ni narimash\u014d.<\/em>
\nLet’s be friends.<\/p>\n

\u301c\u00a0\u2014 Wave Mark<\/h2>\n

This guy’s a little more complicated.<\/p>\n

The wave dash, known as \u6ce2\u5f62 (\u306a\u307f\u304c\u305f) \u2014 <\/strong>namigata<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>in Japanese,\u00a0can be used to separate a title from a subtitle, in lieu of a colon, to replace ellipses, in pairs to replace brackets or parenthesis or to indicate a drawn-out word<\/strong>\u00a0(typically used to be cute).<\/p>\n

It’s kind of a catch-all character in Japanese and is usually only used online, especially on social media and in chats.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong> Colons are used in Japanese, but typically only to tell time (4:05), while the wave mark can be used where English readers would put a colon in any other literary situation. Semicolons don’t exist in Japanese punctuation.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u30d0\u30a4\u30d0\u30a4\u301c (\u3070\u3044\u3070\u3044\u301c )
\nBaibai~<\/em>
\nBye-bye\u301c<\/p>\n

\u30fb\u00a0\u2014 Interpunct<\/h2>\n

The \u4e2d\u9ed2\u00a0(\u306a\u304b\u3050\u308d) \u2014 nakaguro,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>or interpunct,\u00a0<\/em>is used to divide words up, especially foreign katakana words.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since Japanese doesn’t use “and,” have spaces or use slashes ( \/ ) in the way that English typically does, the interpunct helps divide words up within a statement.<\/p>\n

It’s also used as a decimal point in mathematics when writing kanji.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u4e2d\u5b66\u30fb\u9ad8\u6821 (\u3061\u3085\u3046\u304c\u304f\u30fb \u3053\u3046\u3053\u3046 )
\nCh\u016bgaku \/ k\u014dk\u014d<\/em>
\nmiddle \/ high school<\/p>\n

\u303d\u00a0\u2014 Alternation Mark<\/h2>\n

Now we’re getting into the interesting stuff. \u5eb5\u70b9\u00a0(\u3044\u304a\u308a \u3066\u3093\u00a0) \u2014 ioriten,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>or the part alternation mark, is used in Japanese songwriting<\/strong> to denote the start of a song<\/a> or the beginning of an instrumentalist’s or vocalist’s part.<\/p>\n

It isn’t used very much anymore, but you may find an alternation mark in some professional compositions or modern songbooks.<\/p>\n

You can also sometimes find it on social media, but we think that’s mostly because it looks cool.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u303d\u5927\u597d\u304d\u3060\u3088\u3002 (\u3060\u3044\u3059\u304d \u3060\u3088\u3002)
\nDaisuki dayo.<\/em>
\nI really like you.<\/p>\n

\u303d\u50d5\u3082\u5927\u597d\u304d\u3060\u3088\u3002 (\u307c\u304f\u3082 \u3060\u3044\u3059\u304d \u3060\u3088\u3002)
\nBoku mo daisuki dayo.<\/em>
\nI really like you too.<\/p>\n

\uff08 \uff09\u2014 Parentheses<\/h2>\n

Parentheses are used similarly to how English speakers use them: to add an aside or a non-essential explanation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The only difference is that typed parentheses in Japanese have larger spaces to the left and right of each respective parenthesis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Japanese, they’re called \u4e38\u62ec\u5f27\u00a0(\u307e\u308b \u304b\u3063\u3053 )\u00a0\u2014\u00a0maru kakko<\/em> <\/strong>(round brackets).<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u5f7c\u306f\u5947\u5999\u306a\u306e\u3067\uff08\u60aa\u304f\u53d6\u3089\u306a\u3044\u3067\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\u306d\uff09\u3001\u79c1\u306f\u5f7c\u304c\u6016\u3044\u3067\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n

We’ve separated the hiragana and romaji readings here to avoid confusion:<\/p>\n

\u304b\u308c\u00a0\u306f\u00a0\u304d\u307f\u3087\u3046 \u306a\u306e\u3067\uff08\u00a0\u308f\u308b\u304f\u00a0\u3068\u3089\u306a\u3044\u3067\u00a0\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\u00a0\u306d\uff09\u3001\u308f\u305f\u3057\u306f \u304b\u308c \u304c\u3053\u308f\u3044 \u3067\u3059\u3002
\nKare wa kimy\u014dna node (waruku toranaide kudasaine), watashi wa kare ga kowai desu.<\/em>
\nHe is kind of weird (no offense) and I’m afraid of him.<\/p>\n

\uff1f\u2014 Question Mark<\/h2>\n

Ah, the ol’ \u7591\u554f\u7b26\u00a0(\u304e\u3082\u3093\u3075 ) \u2014\u00a0gimonfu,<\/em> <\/strong>a.k.a. the question mark.\u00a0In traditional Japanese, questions were simply punctuated with a full stop rather than a question mark.<\/p>\n

Modern Japanese uses the question mark in the same way English speakers do to denote a question,<\/strong> be it typed or handwritten.<\/p>\n

It’s also frequently used in \u6f2b\u753b (\u307e\u3093\u304c) \u2014 manga<\/a> and on social media.<\/p>\n

Typed question marks in Japanese have a larger space to the right<\/strong> of the character than English question marks.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u5929\u6c17\u306f\u3069\u3046\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f (\u3066\u3093\u304d \u306f \u3069\u3046 \u3067\u3059 \u304b \uff1f)
\nTenki wa d\u014d desu ka?<\/em>
\nWhat’s the weather like?<\/p>\n

\uff01\u2014 Exclamation Point<\/h2>\n

This guy’s also pretty simple, right? In Japanese, the exclamation point is called \u611f\u5606\u7b26\u00a0(\u304b\u3093\u305f\u3093\u3075 )\u00a0\u2014 kantanfu\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>and is used in handwritten and typed Japanese.<\/p>\n

We use exclamation marks to (you guessed it) exclaim statements.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The only difference between Japanese and English exclamation marks is that Japanese digital text places a larger space to the right<\/strong> of the character, just like the question mark.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u79c1\u306f\u98df\u3079\u7269\u304c\u98df\u3079\u305f\u3044\uff01 (\u308f\u305f\u3057 \u306f \u305f\u3079\u3082\u306e \u304c \u305f\u3079\u305f\u3044\uff01 )
\nWatashi wa tabemono ga tabetai!<\/em>
\nI love to eat food!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s not so confusing now, is it?<\/p>\n

It may be wise to make a note of these marks to reference in the future when writing or reading something in Japanese. Try using flashcards to remember them.<\/p>\n

You can also go on a language learning platform<\/a> like FluentU<\/a> to see how the punctuation marks are used in context by native speakers in videos.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \"FluentU\r\n

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