A method of using Hiragana or Katakana to phonetically show people how to pronounce a Kanji character. In karaoke, the furigana is placed on top of the Kanji character in question. On the Internet, the furigana is placed in parenthesis after the Kanji character. Example: 去(ã„), where 去 is pronounced the same way as ã„. A synonym for furigana is ruby, which is used in English-speaking platforms, such as Microsoft products like Internet Explorer.
Japanese -n. Small hiragana printed next to kanji characters to give their pronunciation, making them easier to read. The Ranma ½ manga have furigana.
"Helper" hiragana (or katakana) printed by kanji to help readers with pronunciation and comprehension. Most commonly used in books aimed at younger audiences.
Small hiragana or katakana written above kanji to clarify how the kanji is to be read. This is usually found in children's books to aid them in reading the kanji, but can also be found in adult writing to clarify which usage of a kanji symbol is intended. - A euphamism for the word ecchi.
small Japanese characters placed next to kanji to help children to understand them. Used a lot in manga.
1/4ˆãµã‚ŠãŒãªï1/4‰ The mini-text reading (in hiragana and/or katakana) that you see right above of a Kanji character as a guide on how to read that particular character. Furigana raedings above the Kanji characters are very common in standard Japanese text, especially in children's books and manga (Japanese comics).
The phonetic spelling of a Japanese word or name.
Japanese reading aid. They consist of smaller kana printed next to a kanji or other character to indicate its pronunciation. In horizontal text, yokogaki, they are placed above the line of text, while in vertical text, tategaki, they are placed to the right of the line of text, as illustrated below.