Genkō Yōshi
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is a type of Japanese paper used for writing. It is printed with squares, typically 200 or 400 per sheet, each square designed to accommodate a single Japanese character or punctuation mark. ''Genkō yōshi'' may be used with any type of writing instrument (
pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of ...
, pen or ink brush), and with or without a '' shitajiki'' (protective "under-sheet"). While in the past ''genkō yōshi'' was used for all types of manuscript writing (
essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...
s, creative writing, news writing and so on), in most cases the advent of the
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
means that this is now the preferred medium, although some Japanese word processing software still includes a ''genkō yōshi'' template. However, ''genkō yōshi'' is still very widely used, especially by students. Primary and secondary students in particular are required to hand in assignments written on ''genkō yōshi'', and essays for school entrance examinations are also written on the paper, making knowledge of the correct way to use ''genkō yōshi'' essential. It is also the main form of rule used by
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
ese students when writing
Taiwanese Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin, frequently referred to as ''Guoyu'' () or ''Huayu'' (), is the variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan. A large majority of the Taiwanese population is fluent in Mandarin, though many also speak a variety of Min Chinese ...
, where it is called 原稿紙 (). In Taiwan, students use the thin vertical column to transcribe
Bopomofo Bopomofo, also called Zhuyin Fuhao ( ; ), or simply Zhuyin, is a Chinese transliteration, transliteration system for Standard Chinese and other Sinitic languages. It is the principal method of teaching Chinese Mandarin pronunciation in Taiwa ...
pronunciation. Some programs of Japanese as a foreign language also require or encourage their adult students to use ''genkō yōshi'' for practice or formal assignments or both, as use of the paper helps students to learn correct spacing when writing vertically.


Form

''Genkō yōshi'' is used for vertical writing (although by turning the page sideways it can be used for horizontal writing too), and is most commonly printed in columns of twenty squares, with ten columns per page (each B4-sized sheet of ''genkō yōshi'' comprising two pages), but other configurations are also available. Between consecutive columns of squares is a blank space used for writing
furigana is a Japanese reading aid consisting of smaller kana (syllabic characters) printed either above or next to kanji (logographic characters) or other characters to indicate their pronunciation. It is one type of ruby text. Furigana is also know ...
( ruby characters), bōten (a type of punctuation mark used for giving emphasis) or other marks. In the centre of each two-page spread of ''genkō yōshi'' (between the two sets of ten columns) is a wide blank space, allowing the sheets to be bound or folded.


Origin

Prior to the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
, handwriting was often calligraphic and written materials often made use of scrolls, which would have made the guidelines printed on ''genkō yōshi'' a hindrance, although paper was sometimes printed with vertical lines designed to keep columns of vertical writing straight. ''Genkō yōshi'' came into common use in the middle of the
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
with the rising importance of newspapers and magazines, and the attendant need to count characters precisely.


Rules for use

While ''genkō yōshi'' can be used for horizontal writing, it is most commonly used for vertical writing, which is read from right to left. The first page is therefore the right hand side of the sheet. The title is placed on the first column, usually leaving two or three leading blank spaces. The author's name is placed on column 2, with an empty square or two below and an empty square between the given and family names. The first sentence begins on column 3 or 4. Each paragraph, including the first one, is usually indented by a square. However, when writing quoted text such as direct speech, the opening quotation mark ( or in vertical writing) is placed in the first square of the column. Like printed vertical Japanese, full stops, commas, and small kana are placed in the top right corner of their own square. In Chinese, they are placed in the middle of the square. All punctuation marks, other marks (such as parentheses), and small kana usually occupy their own square, unless this would place them at the top of a new column, in which case they share the last square of the previous column with the character in that square. (This is the kinsoku shori rule.) A full stop followed directly by closing quotation mark are written in one square. A blank square is left after non-Japanese punctuation marks (such as exclamation points and question marks). Ellipses and dashes use two squares.
Furigana is a Japanese reading aid consisting of smaller kana (syllabic characters) printed either above or next to kanji (logographic characters) or other characters to indicate their pronunciation. It is one type of ruby text. Furigana is also know ...
and
Bopomofo Bopomofo, also called Zhuyin Fuhao ( ; ), or simply Zhuyin, is a Chinese transliteration, transliteration system for Standard Chinese and other Sinitic languages. It is the principal method of teaching Chinese Mandarin pronunciation in Taiwa ...
are written to the right of the relevant character, in small print. Words, phrases, and sentences in Western characters (such as Roman letters) except acronyms like USA and NATO are often, but not always, written vertically by turning the page a quarter turn counterclockwise, so that when the page is viewed normally they are sideways. Each square can accommodate two Western characters.


''Genkō yōshi'' and manga

Manga artists and other illustrators also use a special type of ''genkō yōshi'' called
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
''genkō yōshi''. This paper is printed with very light blue lines which do not show up when copied, and there are several varieties, each with a different type of printed grid. These are also available in different weights and
sizes Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or volume. Length can be generalized ...
.


See also

* '' Shitajiki'' * '' Washi'' * Loose leaf *
Ruled paper Ruled paper (or lined paper) is writing paper printed with lines as a guide for handwriting. The lines often are printed with fine width and in light colour and such paper is sometimes called ''feint-ruled paper''. Additional vertical lines may ...
* Writing paper * Gunsho Ruijū - Genkō yōshi was born from this books' printing plate.


References

* Seward, Jack. ''Easy Japanese: A Guide to Spoken and Written Japanese''. 1993 Passport Books, Chicago. * New College Japanese-English Dictionary, 5th Edition, Kenkyusha


External links


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Genko yoshi Culture of Japan Japanese stationery Japanese paper Japanese words and phrases Printing and writing paper