Can i write only in hiragana

The reading speed difference gets bigger as your reader's level goes up and the more you stick to 'conventional' kanji assignments. I am not a native speaker, nor anywhere near, but I notice my reading speed drop significantly in 'all kana' situations, probably by a factor of That factor has continued to increase with my literacy level, so I imagine a native speaker would suffer quite a serious slow down.

This is consistent with some research that suggests fluent readers dont really read individual characters.. If you use an unconventional spelling, eg all kana or unusual kanji, you change the visual form and the reader is less likely to 'shortcut' recognition, perhaps causing a 'stumble' where they have to read more closely.

Intentionally causing such stumbles is a valid technique, and may partially explain why kana are sometimes used for emphasis. Your readers will thank you if you make the effort to learn to write to the conventions they are used to. Yes, all Kanji characters can be replaced by hiragana, by katakana, and by a mixture of them. However, as other answers show, two sentences with Kanji may map to the same single sequence of hiragana or of katanaka.

Such a sequence is understandable, but may be understood as multiple meanings. For example, in old days probably around early 20th century , Japanese telegraphy messages were all written only with katakana, as far as I know from movies. A famous message is. Come home in a hurry. It is actually possible to write anything in Japanese using only Hiragana and Katakana which are the phonetic systems. Kanji are ideograms, so they do not represent specific sounds but ideas.

In Latin languages, kanjis would be like the root meanings of the words. Well, with this example in mind, in Japanese they will use the same kanji to say "God" and to say "Theo", because the kanji by itself represents the idea of "God". Depending on the context, the sound will change to fit the natural variations of spoken language. That's why when learning Japanese, it is important to learn first the phonetic systems Hiragana and Katakana and after that climb to kanjis which are way more complex.

In other words, hiragana and katakana are two different ways to write the same thing. English also has two writing systems that read the same way: print and cursive. But how we use them is different. The same is true for writing and reading in Japanese. Hiragana is the most commonly used, standard form of Japanese writing. Written on its own and without kanji, it's a bit hard to read and child-like, and can only be read with some effort.

Katakana, on the other hand, is more like print in its appearance: more block-ish and sharp. You may also notice some brands and celebrities write their names in katakana as a stylistic choice. The number of Japanese loan words from other languages continues to grow every year.

So make sure you learn them both! Unlike English, where the letters can have many different pronunciations, the Japanese alphabet is always read exactly the same. Even when put together in words, they never change. Kanji readings will change something to look forward to when you advance! Of course there are some "expats" in Tokyo who go with almost zero knowledge of the language, but those are special circumstances. Some things are simply written in mixture of kanji, hiragana, and katakana.

So if you write only hiragana, then it would make more sense to use romaji altogether. Note that "romaji" is a Japanese writing system using western alphabets, and equal to hiragana in that it is all phonetic. It would be nice to know where toilet is, wouldn't be? Some kanji you may come across will have furigana written next to it which is hiragana or some of the signs may have words printed in kanji and hiragana both.

And often you'll see signs in Romaji. Some of the train stations in certain town may have signs in Hiragana so the younger school children who commute to school can read it and commute safely. Younger children haven't reached the capacity of learning all of the kanjis yet. If you are not planning on using Japanese much when it comes to reading or writing, then it could be better to focus on listening and speaking first.

Based on experience of friends of mine, who lived there for a year: yes you can. It is better to know the kanji too, but you can do the everyday stuff without kanji. One of them the less proficient Japanese speaker recommended both hiragana and katakana though, not just hiragana.

But you will get a much richer experience in Japan if you do learn some. In short, Japanese is one of the more difficult languages for a native English speaker to learn. It takes much dedication and time.