What is Genkō yōshi?
[[File:Genkoyoshi.svg|right|thumb|230px|Use of ''genkō yōshi''' (400 square sheet shown): <br/>'''1'''. Title on 1st line, first character in 4th square.<br> '''2'''. Author's name on 2nd line: 1 square between family name and given name, and 1 empty square below<br> '''3'''. First sentence of the essay begins on the 3rd line, 2nd square. Each new paragraph begins on the 2nd square<br> '''4'''. Subheadings have 1 empty line before and after, and begin on the 3rd square of a new line<br> '''5'''. Punctuation marks have their own square, except when they would occur at the top of a line. In that case they share a square with the last character of the previous line]] {{nihongo|'''Genkō yōshi'''|原稿用紙|}} (or ''genkoyoshi'') is a type of Japanese paper used for writing. It is printed with squares. There are typically 200 or 400 squares on each sheet. Each square designed to accommodate a single Japanese character or punctuation mark. ''Genkō yōshi'' may be used with any type of writing instruments {{mdash}} [[pencil]], [[pen]], or an ink brush. ''Genkō yōshi'' is used for vertical writing. On a sheet of ''genkō yōshi'', there is no pre-determined order; there is instead a system of space, which can be designed freely.<ref>Ikegami, Yoshihiko. (1991). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0F-ueRLIYwEC&dq=genkoyoshi&pg=PA68 ''The Empire of signs: semiotic essays on Japanese culture,'' p. 68].</ref> One page of Japanese with 400 characters generally equals 225-250 words in English. In other words, an essay of about 10,000 words would be the same as 40-45 ''genko yoshi''.<ref>University of Tokyo, [http://ssjj.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/call-papers.htm ''Social Science Japan Journal'' (SSJJ), Call for papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922125733/http://ssjj.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/call-papers.htm |date=2012-09-22 }}. Retrieved 2012-4-29.</ref> ==History== ''Genkō yōshi'' came into common use in the [[Meiji period]]. Newspapers and magazines needed to count characters. ==References== {{reflist}} == Othe