• Previous article: 1.3.2. How are animal and plant names written in Japanese?
• Next article: 1.3.4. What are the systems of romanization of Japanese?

1.3.3. What is furigana?

Furigana on "Fuji-san", the name of Mount Fuji

Furigana (振仮名), also known as rubi (ルビ) or rubii (ルビー) from "ruby", the name of the size of the type used to print them, are small kana characters placed adjacent to kanji to indicate the pronunciation.

These small characters are used most extensively on books for Japanese children, but they are also used to write difficult-to-read characters in adult books. They are also widely used in textbooks for foreign students of the Japanese language. Using the characters on all of the kanji, as seen in the above picture, is called sourubi (総ルビ).

• Previous article: 1.3.2. How are animal and plant names written in Japanese?
• Next article: 1.3.4. What are the systems of romanization of Japanese?

Copyright © 1994-2013 Ben Bullock

If you have questions, corrections, or comments, please contact Ben Bullock or use the discussion forum / Privacy

Book reviews	Convert Japanese numbers	Handwritten kanji recognition	Stroke order diagrams	Convert Japanese units