The History of KanjiThe Japanese language is made up of four main scripts, kanji, hiragana, katakana and romaji. Kanji were imported from China over the centuries. Pictograms are generally much more complex than kana, hiragana and katakana and, furthermore, have different readings and meanings depending on how they are combined with other kanji. They represent words or ideas rather than syllables, although kana can be used to spell out pronunciation. . It is not uncommon to see a kanji with its reading spelled out in very small kana, written just above it. Kana used in this way, to indicate how to pronounce akanji, are known as "furigana". The same kanji can be read in different ways. For example, the kanji "sei" can be read as "sei" in "sensei", teacher, or as "u" in "umareta", I am born, or "nama" in "nama biiru", draft. beer. Kanji can be single words or, if combined with other kanji, compounds. They can be changed and manipulated to give many different readings and meanings, but the original stem remains. They have evolved, over a long period of time, from simple cracks in turtle shells to the complex symbols they are today. To investigate this, it is helpful to explore the history of kanji and their origins, formation, and different readings. Kanji are characters that were part of the writing system used in Asian countries, particularly China. It is not known exactly when and where kanji first appeared, however, the oldest characters, resembling some kind of symbols, were carved on earthenware fragments and were discovered in the ruins of the old Ch...... middle of paper... ...an impact that is expected to continue. Another influence to note currently is the generation gap that exists in relation to the use of the Japanese language. Today's younger generation tends to favor the use of more neutral and informal speech, ignoring the important role of honorific and gender-specific speech considered important in traditional Japanese. , such as the progression of new slang terms and the use of youth-specific grammar, are also observed. It's inevitable and unstoppable, but who's to say it's a problem? It doesn't have to become negative or something to disapprove of because it happens in every language and culture across the world. Kanji is a complex and complex writing, adapted from Chinese origin, which meets the demand of the Japanese to communicate.