Japanese with a typewriter

[Explorer]

Have you ever wondered how Japanese was written when there were no computers? Of course there was always the possibility of writing each Kanji by hand, but there was a time it was also possible to write Japanese with typewritters. Wait, what are you saying? How is that possible if Japanese has thousands of different characters? Those machines had to be huge! Well, not necessarily. Human ingenuity has no limits

What do you think of these machines? I personally find them fascinating!

[gmads]

Before watching any of the videos, I imagined that the typewriter would have like common components or strokes instead of full characters, therefore, one would have to press a number of keys to "build" the desired character before advancing to the next character.

Well, it was interesting to see the solution... if I had to choose, I think I would go with the first one, it seemed easier... though I would never imagine myself writing a book or any text of considerable length using any of them...

Yes, they now have computers that make this process easier, but one still wonders about their denial to leave kanji behind and start using romaji.

[Explorer]

but one still wonders about their denial to leave kanji behind and start using romaji.

I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future. Kanjis are not a linguistic whim that Japanese people refuse to get rid of. Being able to read Chinese characters really opens your mind to a different way of thinking. In fact, you don't even need to "read" them to understand the general ideas of any given text. Objects and actions pop up into your mind just by looking at them.

I understand why other languages such as Korean and Vietnamese stopped using Chinese characters. Learning this writing system can be a complex and daunting task. But it is also very rewarding once you get familiar with it.

[gmads]

but one still wonders about their denial to leave kanji behind and start using romaji.

I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.

Yes, I definitely agree with that, they are still far from being ready to leave the kanji train behind.

Kanjis are not a linguistic whim that Japanese people refuse to get rid of.

Indeed, not a whim at all, quite the opposite

Being able to read Chinese characters really opens your mind to a different way of thinking. In fact, you don't even need to "read" them to understand the general ideas of any given text. Objects and actions pop up into your mind just by looking at them.

I know about their value as a means of communication —and that was the reason (apart from their aesthetics) I began learning Japanese quite some years ago—, as Alan Watts mentioned in his book, The Way of Tao, just as English has become the universal spoken language, written Chinese could become the universal written language, so after seeing the kanji 女 (onna) we would all know it means "woman" regardless of how each of us would verbally express it (e.g. woman, frau, donna, mulher), or after seeing the pair 花火 (hanabi) we would all know it means "fireworks".

I understand why other languages such as Korean and Vietnamese stopped using Chinese characters. Learning this writing system can be a complex and daunting task. But it is also very rewarding once you get familiar with it.

Yes, and if they could... it means it is doable, it is just a matter of willing, of recognizing the value and the advantages of using a phonetic alphabet.

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[Explorer]

written Chinese could become the universal written language, so after seeing the kanji 女 (onna) we would all know it means "woman" regardless of how each of us would verbally express it (e.g. woman, frau, donna, mulher), or after seeing the pair 花火 (hanabi) we would all know it means "fireworks".

Exactly! Kanji are like our numeral system. If you go to a supermarket and a product is priced at 49.99 ($, €, 円) you'll immediately know what it means, even if you don't know how to pronounce it. And the same goes for road signs in most countries.

Yes, and if they could... it means it is doable, it is just a matter of willing, of recognizing the value and the advantages of using a phonetic alphabet.

Of course it is. Korean invented the Hangul, which still looks beautiful (모든 인간은 태어날 때부터 자유로우며 그 존엄과 권리에 있어 동등하다) and Vietnamese has the Chữ Quốc ngữ. There is no doubt that both systems are easier to learn than Kanji. They are indeed much easier, more practical if you want to say so, but they cannot convey ideas in the same way as Kanji does. In my humble opinion a lot would be lost if Kanji definitely disappears from the Japanese language.

[Corinnebelle]

Do those keyboards fit all the words in Chinese? I understand there are thousands of words each with it's one symbol. Can you construct words with the typewriter or are there only a set amount of symbols. It looks like very hard work, but then I have to hit a letter for each key whereas each of those symbols is one word.

[Explorer]

Do those keyboards fit all the words in Chinese?

Depending on the model these machines include about 2000-3500 characters. So you cannot write all the existing words in the language, but it's more than enough to write almost anything in your everyday life.

Can you construct words with the typewriter or are there only a set amount of symbols.

Each typewriter has a set with the most frequent characters. However, as far as I've seen, it was possible to change and replace some of the typebars to add any specific vocabulary (for doctors, lawyers, etc.)