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<p>[QUOTE="ewomack, post: 3251858, member: 15588"]Confusing "Meiji 12" and "Meiji 20" is an easy mistake to make for a few historical reasons, even for people who already know the Japanese number system. First, in modern Kanji, 12 is "十二" and 20 is "二十." "十," pronounced "juu," stands for 10 and the side that it appears on determines whether it serves as an additive or as a multiplier. "10" before "2" means "12" and "10" after "2" means "20." So flipping this character around has major consequences for meaning and counting.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, and to make things even more confusing, the direction of Japanese reversed, changing from right to left to left to right, in 1948 (or in Showa 23 or "昭和二十三年"). So, prior to 1948 "二十" actually reads as "12" and after 1948 "十二" reads "12," but the reading becomes clear only within the context of the entire date. Those looking for just those 2 characters, "二" and "十," in isolation and out of context could easily misread those, and other, Japanese historical dates. For example, on a Meiji-era coin, "Meiji 12" would read "年二十治明," but in modern Japanese it would read in reverse as "明治十二年." This opens up numerous possibilities for misreadings.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="ewomack, post: 3251858, member: 15588"]Confusing "Meiji 12" and "Meiji 20" is an easy mistake to make for a few historical reasons, even for people who already know the Japanese number system. First, in modern Kanji, 12 is "十二" and 20 is "二十." "十," pronounced "juu," stands for 10 and the side that it appears on determines whether it serves as an additive or as a multiplier. "10" before "2" means "12" and "10" after "2" means "20." So flipping this character around has major consequences for meaning and counting. Second, and to make things even more confusing, the direction of Japanese reversed, changing from right to left to left to right, in 1948 (or in Showa 23 or "昭和二十三年"). So, prior to 1948 "二十" actually reads as "12" and after 1948 "十二" reads "12," but the reading becomes clear only within the context of the entire date. Those looking for just those 2 characters, "二" and "十," in isolation and out of context could easily misread those, and other, Japanese historical dates. For example, on a Meiji-era coin, "Meiji 12" would read "年二十治明," but in modern Japanese it would read in reverse as "明治十二年." This opens up numerous possibilities for misreadings.[/QUOTE]
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