Is Japanese ever written with spaces between the words?

Japanese is usually written without spaces between kanji and kana. Wakachigaki (分かち書き) is the name given to Japanese written with spaces. Wakachigaki is usually used for books for small children who have not yet studied kanji. It is also used in Japanese braille.[1]

Wakachigaki usually treats particles as part of the preceding word. For example,

わたしは　ねこが　きらい　だ。

In romaji,

Watashiwa nekoga kirai da.

("I don't like cats.") Here the wa particle is attached to Watashi (I), and the ga particle is attached to neko (cat). Wakachigaki also treats combinations using the possessive no as one word.

References

  1. 点字を読んでみよう！ (section 分かち書き) at the Braille Authority of Japan

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