If you ever decide to pick up manga, the first thing you will notice is how hard it is to read the damned thing. Then, you may check out our article on how to read manga, and you will find that manga is read backwards. Which begs the question. Why is Manga Read Backwards?
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Manga is read backwards (right to left), because manga is written using Japanese traditional writing systems where the direction goes from back to front. This tradition stems from the unique writing system (alphabets) that the Japanese have. These Japanese alphabets are written either from top down or from the right to the left.
Maybe a more detailed explanation is in order, so let’s get into it.
Why Is Manga Read Backwards?
Manga is written backwards because it is a Japanese book, and all Japanese books are written going from the front to the back.
It’s standard practice in the west that everything we read will be written going from the left to the write. This is so engrained in out minds that even if we were to see an image, we would read it from the left to the right. This is not the same with all countries in the world.
In some countries, the writing goes from right to left. As a consequence, you will find that even their images are observed going from right to left. This means even things like comic books are read going from right to left.
Japan is one of those countries.
Japan is written using characters called Kanji. Other Japanese writings are written in katakana, and in hiragana. The rules of the writing for these characters dictate that when you write, you must either write from the top going down, or from the right to the left.
Why Do Japanese Read From Back To Front?
The Japanese write from back to front because of having to write on scrolls.
There is no clear definitive reason why the Japanese write from right to front, just as there is no clear reason why the Westerners write from left to write. But there have been a number of theories, and there is one that I am specifically partial too.
The idea is the medium theory.
This theory holds that the reason for the direction of writing, is due to the medium of writing used. In the West, writing arrived fairly late. As a consequence, papers and ink existed. So people wrote in a way that would avoid smudging the ink. So they wrote from left to right, and down. In the Middle east, people started writing a lot earlier, and so tehy wrote ons tones. Stones need force to write, adn most people are right handed, so people wrote right to left, not having to worrry about smudging ink. In Japan, they learned to write from China, who also started writing on stones before paper came along. As a consequence, the Japanese learned to write not only from right to left but also top down.
What Countries Read From Right To Left?
Countries that follow this rule of writing are:
- Hebrew
- Persian
- Urdu
- Sindhi
- Arabic
- Aramaic
