Japanese script reform

The Japanese script reform is the attempt to correlate standard spoken Japanese with the written word, which began during the Meiji period. This issue is known in Japan as the kokugo kokuji mondai (国語国字問題, national language and script problem^?). The reforms led to the development of the modern Japanese written language, and explain the arguments for official policies used to determine the usage and teaching of kanji rarely used in Japan.

Japanese script has undergone reforms dating at least to 1900, and proposals to reform kanji usage were developed in the 1920s. There is however a general misconception that the attempt to abolish kanji through the modernization of kana usage and issuance of a list containing only a limited number of accepted kanji originated from the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan, though a plan had already been put into place prior to the occupation.

In the 1900 spelling reforms, hentaigana (old variant forms of kana) were eliminated, though historical kana orthography (dating to the Heian period, a millennium before) was retained. A separate character for ん was also prescribed; previously it had been written as む ('mu') and ん was a hentaigana for both these sounds. A proposal to eliminate certain kanji from use was implemented in a number of regions and overseas territories in the 1920s, near the end of the Taishō period.

In November, 1922, the rinji kokugo chōsakai (臨時国語調査会, Temporary National Language Investigation Committee^?), the precursor to the Japanese Language Council, now the Japanese Language subdivision of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, selected and approved a list of 1,962 kanji characters for daily use. This group of characters formed the basis for the tōyō kanji list, which eventually developed into the modern jōyō kanji list. In December, 1923, the committee approved a set of reforms for kana usage; the prototype for the modern kana system.

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