VOX POPULI: Vertical writing an indispensable part of thinking in Japanese

When you picture a timeline of Japanese history, which side is the Jomon Pottery Culture Period (c. 14500 B.C.-1000 B.C.) on?

Is it right or left?

Since ancient times, the passage of time has always flown from right to left in Japan.

This is clearly evident in “emaki” picture scrolls and “byobu-e” folding-screen paintings.

Cherry trees blossom in mountains, while leaves grow thick, wither and are covered with snow. The transition of the four seasons has always been portrayed from right to left.

Makoto Yanaike, an expert on the Japanese language, says it is probably because Japanese has traditionally been written from top to bottom and right to left.

It is a fresh reminder that our consciousness and thought are inseparably connected to the arrangements of words.

Horizontal writing was introduced during the final years of the feudal Edo Period (1603-1867).

By the Taisho Era (1912-1926), the newspaper industry was also using horizontal writing for headlines and other elements.

But reporters have always written their stories in vertical format even though their tools changed from manuscript paper to word processors and to personal computers.

But alas, the time has come.

Although the appearance of the paper remains the same, The Asahi Shimbun’s computer system has just been refurbished. Now I have to input manuscripts for this column horizontally.

It is all part of adapting to the digital age, I heard.

The fact is that the majority of online texts are written horizontally, even in Japanese today, and from left to right.

The situation is apparently the same even for newspapers in China, where the system of writing in kanji characters originated.

I can’t help but think it is a trend of the times.

Still, the difference between vertical and horizontal writing is significant because the presentation looks different.

For example, novelist and poet Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) recites in his poem “Haru to Shura” (Spring and Demon): “Oh, I roam at the bottom of the shining April/  As I clench my teeth with bitterness/ I find myself being a demon.”

I wonder if he could have etched out his deep torment using a writing mode other than a vertical one.

I confess I wrote this manuscript vertically on a different file before pasting it into the system.

In Japanese, there is a saying for a lazy person: “One who doesn't even bother to put something that is standing vertically horizontally.”

But things are not that simple.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 6

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.