Many East Asian scripts can be written horizontally or vertically. Chinese characters, Korean hangul, and Japanese kana may be oriented along either axis, as they consist mainly of disconnected logogr
An excerpt from The Cold Food Observance (寒食帖) by Song dynasty scholar Su Shi (1037–1101). The calligraphy is read in columns from top to bottom, from right to left.
Imperial throne inside the Forbidden City in Beijing. The plaque at the top 正大光明 is written from right to left, while the plaques on the sides use vertical writing.
The word kasutera (カステラ) written from right to left on the right-hand side of a festival stall in Hakone, Japan.
Two examples of right-to-left characters on a Chinese postcard from 1901, 津天 and 京北
Furigana
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Furigana is a Japanese reading aid consisting of smaller kana printed either above or next to kanji or other characters to indicate their pronunciation. It is one type of ruby text. Furigana is also k
Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts
…to the right. Vertical books are printed the other way round, with the binding at the right, and pages progressing to the left. Ruby characters like furigana in Japanese which provides a phonetic guide for unusual or difficult-to-read characters, follow the direction of the main text. Example in Japanese…
Furigana indicates the pronunciation above the kanji for the names of three stations on the Seibu Railway: 東伏見（ひがしふしみ） (Higashi-Fushimi), 武蔵関（むさしせき） (Musashi-Seki), and 西武柳沢（せいぶやぎさわ） (Seibu-Yagisawa). The sign also includes romaji below the kanji for each station.