Kyūjitai, literally "old character forms" (
Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: ), are the traditional forms of the Japanese
kanji. Their simplified counterparts are
shinjitai, "new character forms". The simplified characters arose centuries ago and were in everyday use in both China and Japan, but they were considered inelegant, even uncouth. After World War II, simplified characters were made official in both these countries. However in Japan fewer and less drastic simplifications were made: e.g. "electric" is still spelled traditionally as 電 in Japan, but has been simplified to 电 in mainland China. Prior to the promulgation of the
Tōyō kanji list in 1947, kyūjitai were known as
seiji (; meaning "proper/correct characters") or
seijitai (). Even after
kyūjitai were officially marked for discontinuation with the promulgation of the Tōyō kanji list, they were used in print frequently into the 1950s due to logistical delays in changing over
typesetting equipment.
Kyūjitai continue in use to the present day because when the government adopted the simplified forms, it did not ban the traditional forms. Thus traditional forms are used when an author wishes to use traditional forms and the publisher consents.
Unlike in
China, where all personal names are consistently
simplified,
kyūjitai are still tolerated in personal names in Japan (see
List of the traditional kanji tolerated in names). Based upon this principle, the
kyūjitai and
shinjitai spellings of historical figures can be interchangeable in modern Japanese.
See also
