Hiragana Times
Encyclopedia
Hiragana Times is a magazine published in Japan
, written for foreigners residing in Japan. The Hiragana Times is unique in that all the articles are written in both English and Japanese, with no bias between the languages.
The name of the magazine comes from the fact that all kanji
in the magazine have hiragana
translations adjacent (called furigana
), allowing more novice readers to comprehend the articles in both languages.
The magazine is published monthly and contains articles of cultural importance to Japanese readers, with some American and British
stories mixed in.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, written for foreigners residing in Japan. The Hiragana Times is unique in that all the articles are written in both English and Japanese, with no bias between the languages.
The name of the magazine comes from the fact that all kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
in the magazine have hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
translations adjacent (called furigana
Furigana
is a Japanese reading aid, consisting of smaller kana, or syllabic characters, printed next to a kanji or other character to indicate its pronunciation. In horizontal text, yokogaki, they are placed above the line of text, while in vertical text, tategaki, they are placed to the right of the line...
), allowing more novice readers to comprehend the articles in both languages.
The magazine is published monthly and contains articles of cultural importance to Japanese readers, with some American and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
stories mixed in.