Quote:
Originally Posted by chryuop
How strict is this rule? I have found many of those words in the link Masaegu gave written in kanji in books (and not textbooks, but novels). A couple of people I write to in Japan regularly use 事 instead of こと (another one of those words in Masaegu's link).
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It's not much of a rule. Think of it this way: As a general rule, it is considered poor/casual writing in English to use contractions. But it's not "wrong" so much as "if you do it you may look less learned." You might liken it to the use of words like "colour" and "theorise" instead of "color" and "theorize." I can't think of a good analogy.
Also, the rule is in a state of flux. You'll find some older Japanese people still use kanji for certain things, while younger people (in their 30s and 40s) who may think using hiragana is superior. Masaegu falls into the latter group, while there is at least one Japanese member here who falls into the former (forget who, though...). I believe Sashimister and Nagoyankee have fallen into the latter group. I'm not sure about YuriTokoro and the others who post less often. I've seen a debate between a couple natives on this topic, too.
There are some I think I can categorically say are very widely considered poor writing. Off the top of my head, 出来る. You should always write できる instead. The only time you can get away with using the kanji is basically when you write the word 出来事.