Japanese punctuation

Japanese punctuation (約物, yakumono) includes various written marks (besides characters and numbers), which differ from those found in European languages, as well as some not used in formal Japanese writing but frequently found in more casual writing, such as exclamation and question marks.

Japanese can be written horizontally or vertically, and some punctuation marks adapt to this change in direction. Parentheses, curved brackets, square quotation marks, ellipses, dashes, and swung dashes are rotated clockwise 90° when used in vertical text (see diagram).

Japanese punctuation marks are usually full width (that is, occupying an area that is the same as the surrounding characters).

Punctuation began to be used in Japanese when translations from European languages became common in the 19th century.

Japanese punctuation marks

Brackets

Various types of brackets (括弧, kakko) are used in Japanese. As in English, brackets are used in pairs to set apart or interject text within other text. When writing vertically, brackets are rotated clockwise ninety degrees. Each bracket occupies its own square when using genkō yōshi.