Part III: Japanese (pages 288-390)

Japan and Japanese 288

17. Japanese Language 290

Speech Sounds, Syllables, and Moras 290 (see a sample)
Composition of Japanese Vocabulary 293
Japanese Native vs Sino-Japanese Words 294
European and English Loan Words 296
Numerals and Classifiers 299
Content Words and Grammatical Morphemes 300
Sentences and Plain or Polite Speech 301

18. Kanji: Chinese Characters 304

Scripts of Japan 304 (see a sample)
Introduction and Spread of Kanji 305
Kanji Uses in Different Times 306
Kanji Readings: On/Chinese and Kun/Japanese 308 (see a sample)
Two-Kanji Words: Readings 310
Kanji, Hancha, and Hanzi Compared 312

19. Kana: Japanese Syllabary 315

Kana: Origin and Development 315 (see a sample)
Kana Signs: Number and Order 317
How to Use Kana 319
Furigana or Annotating Kana 321
Katakana for Foreign Loan Words 323

20. Romaji: Roman Letters 324

Romaji for European Words and Foreigners 324 (see a sample)
Romaji Styles: Hepburn, Japanese, and Cabinet 326
Guidelines for Romaji Use 328
Should Romaji Replace the Japanese Scripts? 328

21. Why Keep Kanji? 332

Kanji Differentiate Homophones 332
Meanings of Kanji Words are Grasped Well 334
Kanji for Compound Words 335
Kanji for Technical Terms and Abbreviations 338
Kanji Stand out in Mixed-Script Text 339
Kanji for Personal Names 342
Disadvantages of Kanji 343
Typing and Word Processing 345
Is Kanji Use Declining? 346 (see a sample)
Conclusions: Keep Kanji but Streamline Them 348

22. Learning Kanji and Kana 351

Preschoolers Acquire Reading 351 (see a sample)
Kana and Kanji Teaching in School 353
Textbooks for Reading Instruction 355
How Well are Kanji Read and Written? 358
Reading Difficulties 361

23. The Japanese Educational System 363

Primary and Secondary School: Overview 363
Preschool and Primary School 366
Middle and High School 367
University and its Entrance Examination 369
Japanese Education: Problems 370
How Well are Children Educated? 372 (see a sample)

24. History of Mass Literacy in Japan 375

Early Limited Literacy 375
Dawn of Mass Literacy 376 (see a sample)
Mass Literacy After World War II 378
Books and Publications 380
Manga! Manga! 383

Summary and Conclusions 385

Bibliography for Part III 387

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