{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Asahi'' characters}} {{nihongo|'''''Asahi'' characters'''|朝日文字|Asahi moji}} are forms of kanji particular to the ''Asahi Shimbun'' newspaper.<ref>{{Cite book |last=国立国語研究所 (Japan) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqLtJgsqHpAC |title=日本語科学 |date=1997 |publisher=国書刊行会 |isbn=978-4-336-03941-5 |pages=102 |language=ja}}</ref> Unlike Simplified Chinese, where simplifications apply to all characters, the general custom in Japanese publications is to print ''jōyō''/''jinmeiyō'' kanji in simplified ''shinjitai'' forms, and to print ''hyōgaiji'' ({{lang|ja|表外字}}, characters outside both lists) using their original, unsimplified ''kyūjitai'' forms. For example, the ''jōyō kanji'' {{lang|ja|齊}}, {{lang|ja|齋}}, {{lang|ja|劑}}, {{lang|ja|濟}} are printed in their ''shinjitai'' forms {{lang|ja|斉}}, {{lang|ja|斎}}, {{lang|ja|剤}}, {{lang|ja|済}}, but the ''hyōgaiji'' {{lang|ja|臍}}, {{lang|ja|纃}}, {{lang|ja|薺}} (also containing {{lang|ja|齊}}, making simplification possible) remain unsimplified.
The ''Asahi Shimbun''{{'}}s policy, however, is always to simplify ''hyōgaiji'' in print on the model of ''shinjitai'' simplifications. For example, in ''Asahi Shimbun'' newspaper publications, {{lang|ja|臍}} ({{Transliteration|ja|heso}}, "navel") would be printed as {{lang|ja|𦜝}} and {{lang|ja|齟齬}} ({{Transliteration|ja|sogo}}, "discord") would be printed as {{lang|ja|𪗱𪘚}}. These simplifications are known as "Asahi characters". This policy is said to have been adopted because in the age of typewriter-based printing, more complicated kanji could not be clearly printed. This newspaper also is currently the only publication using this simplification practice. These simplifications are not used in other publications by the Asahi Shimbun company.
Some of these Asahi simplifications have been included in the JIS X 0208 and above character sets, and even more (although lesser supported) are included in Unicode. Some Asahi characters have become the de facto standard forms as a result of their inclusion in the JIS standards (likely because the simplified forms are easier to display at lower sizes and resolutions), for example {{lang|ja|鹸}} in {{lang|ja|石鹸}} ({{Transliteration|ja|sekken}}, "soap"), the ''kyūjitai'' form {{lang|ja|鹼}} not being included until later versions. The character {{lang|ja|葛}} ({{Transliteration|ja|kuzu}}, "arrowroot") has become a source of controversy, as only the simplified form was included in the JIS standards; the ''kyūjitai'' form (using {{lang|ja|曷}}) being added as a result of protest from people living in areas or with given names using this character. Simplification of the {{lang|ja|辶}} and {{lang|ja|示}} radicals is also observed by other newspaper companies.
==See also== *Extended ''shinjitai''
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Kanji Category:Japanese writing system terms characters
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