This article lists Japanese typographic symbols that are not included in kana or kanji groupings.

Repetition marks

JIS X 0208 JIS X 0213 Unicode Name(s) Usage 2139 1-1-25 3005 Kanji iteration mark. For example, could be written . From (below). 2138 1-1-24 4EDD Kanji repetition mark 2152 1-1-19 30FD Katakana iteration mark 2153 1-1-20 30FE Katakana iteration mark with a dakuten (voiced consonant) 2154 1-1-21 309D Hiragana iteration mark. For example, (haha) could be written . 2136 1-1-22 309E Hiragana iteration mark with a dakuten (voiced consonant). For example, (haba) could be written . 2137 1-1-23 3003 Ditto mark. The name originates from resemblance to two katakana no characters (). 3031 Kana vertical repetition mark 3032 Kana vertical repetition mark with a dakuten 1-2-19 (top), 1-2-21 (bottom) 3033 (top), 3035 (bottom) Repetition mark used in vertical writing. It means repeat the previous two or more kana. 1-2-20 (top), 1-2-21 (bottom) 3034 (top), 3035 (bottom) Kunojiten with a dakuten

Brackets and quotation marks JIS X 0208 JIS X 0213 Unicode Name(s) Usage 2156, 2157 1–1–54, 1-1-55 300C, 300D Usual Japanese quotation marks 2158, 2159 1–1–56, 1-1-57 300E, 300F Japanese version of double quotes, often used when indicating titles 2169, 216A 1–1–42, 1-1-43 FF08, FF09 216C, 216E 1–1–44, 1-1-45 3014, 3015 Used to insert comments into quoted text 216D, 216E 1–1–46,1-1-47 FF3B, FF3D 216F, 2170 1–1–48, 1-1-49 FF5B, FF5D FF5E, FF60 2171, 2172 1–1–50, 1-1-51 3008, 3009 The name gyume is phonetically guillemets 2173, 2174 1–1–52, 1-1-53 300A, 300B 2179, 217A 1–1–58, 1-1-59 3010, 3011 Used in headings, for example in dictionary definitions Referred to as Lenticular brackets in English. 1–2–58, 1-2-59 3016, 3017 1–2–56, 1-2-57 3018, 3019 301A, 301B

Phonetic marks JIS X 0208 JIS X 0213 Unicode Name(s) Usage 2443 1-4-35 3063 Doubles the sound of the next consonant. For example, "" becomes "" , and "" becomes "" 1-5-35 30C4 213C 1-1-28 30FC Indicates a lengthened vowel sound. Often used with katakana. The direction of writing depends on the direction of text. 212B 1-1-11 309B (standalone),3099 (combining) Used with both hiragana and katakana to indicate a voiced sound. For example, becomes , becomes . 212C 1-1-12 309C (standalone),309A (combining) Used with hiragana and katakana to indicate a change from a hahifuheho sound to a papipupepo sound.

Punctuation marks JIS X 0208 JIS X 0213 Unicode Name(s) Usage 2123 3002 Marks the end of a sentence. Japanese equivalent of full stop or period. 2122 3001 Japanese equivalent of a comma 2126 30FB Used to separate foreign words and items in lists. For example, if is written instead of , a Japanese speaker unfamiliar with the name might have difficulty working out where the boundary between the given name and surname lies. Also used in some dictionaries to separate furigana and okurigana when noting kanji readings. For example, the reading for in the term may be given as , indicating that it is read as when followed by the suffix . This symbol is known as an interpunct in English. 30A0, FF1D Sometimes replaces an English en dash or hyphen when writing foreign words in katakana. It is also rarely used to separate given and family names, though the middle dot (nakaguro) is much more common in these cases. See also double hyphen.

Other special marks JIS X 0208 JIS X 0213 Unicode Name(s) Usage 213A 1-1-26 3006 This character is used to write shime in shimekiri ("deadline") (as ) and similar things. It is also used, less commonly, for other shime namely , and . A variant is used as well, to indicate that a letter is closed, as abbreviation of . The character originated as a cursive form of , the top component of (as in shimeru), and was then applied to other kanji of the same pronunciation. See ryakuji for similar abbreviations.

This character is also commonly used in regards to sushi. In this context, it refers that the sushi is pickled, and it is still pronounced shime. 2141 1-1-33 301C Used in "to from" constructions in Japanese, such as "from Monday to Friday". In horizontal writing and on computers, the fullwidth tilde (FF5E) is often used instead. 2144 1-1-36 2026 A line of dots corresponding to one half of a Japanese ellipsis also used as an ellipsis informally 2145 1-1-37 2025 -- 2022, 25E6, FE45, FE46 Adding these dots to the sides of characters (right side in vertical writing, above in horizontal writing) emphasizes the character in question. It is the Japanese equivalent of the use of italics for emphasis in English. 2228 1-2-8 203B This symbol is used in notes (, chū) as a reference mark, similar to an asterisk 2196 1-1-86 FF0A This symbol is used in notes (, chū) 1-3-28 303D This mark is used to show the start of a singer's part in a song 222E 1-2-14 3013 Used as a proofreader's mark indicating unavailability of a glyph, such as when a character cannot be displayed on a computer. The name comes from geta, a type of Japanese sandal. 2276 266A, 266B, 266C, 2669 Often used as an emoticon in informal text to indicate a singsong tone of voice or a playful attitude 3007 Two circles (marumaru) are often used as a placeholder (either because a number of other words or numbers could be used in that position, or because of censorship)

Organization-specific symbols

JIS X 0208 JIS X 0213 Unicode Name(s) Usage 2229 1-2-9 3012 Used to indicate post offices on maps, and printed before postcodes. See also Japanese addressing system and Japan Post. 3036 Variant postal mark in a circle 1-6-70 3020 Variant postal mark with a face 3004 ( This mark on a product shows that it complies with the Japanese Industrial Standards 24CD This mark is used by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) on music publications to indicate that rental is prohibited. Depending on the format (single or album), and whether the content is of Japanese or foreign origin, the rental ban can last from three days up to one year after the release date, at the record company's discretion. Sometimes it is printed as just an uncircled "X", optionally followed by a swung dash ("~") and what may be the last date of the prohibition period. However, if the circled X only appears next to a release date (as indicated by "Y" or "L", see below), then it is unclear whether the release date is also the rental ban expiration date or if a standard prohibition period is in effect. 24C1 This mark is used by the RIAJ on music publications to indicate that the content is of Japanese origin. It normally accompanies the release date, which may include a letter "N" "I" "H" "O" "R" "E" or "C" to represent a year from 1984 through 1990, such as "" to represent 21 February 1986. 24CE This mark is used by the RIAJ on music publications to indicate that the content is of foreign origin. It normally accompanies the release date, which may include a letter "N" "I" "H" "O" "R" "E" or "C" to represent a year from 1984 through 1990, and may include a second date in parentheses, representing the first release date of the content globally.

See also Japanese map symbols Japanese punctuation Emoji, which originated in Japanese mobile phone culture

References