[82riceballs]

lately, i've realized some correlations between japanese 新字体 and simplified chinese characters. e.g. 学, 体, 写, and 与 (and many others) are exactly the same in japanese and simp. chin. Interestingly, 關 (traditional) and 关(simplified) "morph" into 関.

why is that? did the japanese study simp. chin. characters and choose a list of which they liked (as they did with traditional chinese thousands of years ago)? or did both systems develop simultaneously and irrevelantly, yet become so similar? (though wikipedia is very thorough in explaining how both came about, it doesn't compare/contrast the two.)