Yoroku: Let's not allow Japan to slip into a horizontal writing-only world

It has been over a century since the Dutch first began studying horizontal letters after their arrival in Japan. The study of this writing style began during the Kyoho Reforms of Tokugawa Yoshimune in 1720, when Western books were allowed to be imported. This led to Dutch interpreters in Nagasaki being permitted to study horizontal letters, which are written and read horizontally. The misconception is that Japanese is written vertically, but there are vertical writing examples on horizontal plaques.

Horizontal writing became prevalent after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 as Japan embraced Western culture. Prior to World War II, there was a significant amount of horizontal writing from right to left, which aligned with the vertical writing system where columns progress in the same direction. Post-war, left-to-right horizontal writing gained popularity. Today, even textbooks are predominantly written horizontally with the exception of Japanese language texts.

A recent public opinion survey conducted by the Agency for Cultural Affairs revealed that slightly over 30% of respondents stated they do not encounter vertical writing in their daily lives. This figure is quite startling when considering the prevalence of vertical writing in media such as newspapers, magazines, and novels.

The reason why people can go through life without encountering vertical writing is likely due to the increased reliance on smartphones as the primary source of information. Vertical writing does not align well with internet media, which has been shaped by the horizontal letters world. Interestingly, China, the origin of vertical text, fully adopted horizontal writing following the war.

However, Japan has skillfully incorporated both vertical and horizontal writing depending on the context. The traditional art of calligraphy relies on vertical writing. There is a concern that a world dominated solely by horizontal writing would not be ideal.