28

Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

Painting Words and Worlds

Mia Lewis, Columbia University

This study explores wordplay in the works of CLAMP, a popular Japanese

mangaka (comic artist) group. Specifically, it examines CLAMP’s use of
ateji, the pairing of kanji (Chinese characters) and furigana (a reading gloss)
with different meanings. This allows two different words to become one, cre-
ating meanings that transcend words’ literal definitions. Original research on
ateji in six different manga zasshi (comic magazines) and three of CLAMP’s
works—Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, and
Clover—identifies five distinct ateji techniques. This study focuses on the
way these techniques are employed by CLAMP to express complex ideas,
develop plot, and portray characters. As a technique embedded within the
Japanese language, the implications of ateji use in manga extend beyond the
medium of comics, pointing to shifting trends in the language as a whole.

M
anga—Japanese-language comics1—span a broad range of genres,
including romance, historical drama, adventure, and fantasy, among
numerous others. In many ways manga has its founding influences
in Western, and particularly American, comics. However, the visual and verbal styles
as well as the plots of contemporary manga are clearly distinct from their Western
counterparts. Manga are almost exclusively monochrome, their visual vibrancy paling
in comparison to colorful Western comics. Within the language of manga, however,
there exists a depth and dynamism that creates a unique semantic space within the
Japanese language.2 In particular, we see the use of ateji, the joining of two words into
one through a reading gloss.3 Specifically, it is the pairing of kanji (Chinese charac-
ters) with furigana (a reading gloss located either above or beside its corresponding
kanji) that has a different meaning.4 In ateji, the kanji represents the meaning or con-
cept behing the word, while the furigana denotes how it is meant to be read. These
ateji are employed in creative and strategic ways by manga writers to seamlessly add
layers of meaning to the dialogue, furthering story and character development and
creating deep and complex worlds within the stories.
This paper examines the strategic and creative ways in which contemporary
manga employs ateji to concretely affect the reader’s understanding of the text. I
1  While the term manga refers to printed comics, the term anime is used to describe animations that are largely based
on the manga style.
2  While ateji can be found in Japanese literature, in the majority of works it is not present to the same extent as in manga
or with the same frequency. The only other medium in which we find ateji with a comparable frequency of usage to manga
is in some Japanese song lyrics. Along with this, the only other language found to have a reading gloss is in Taiwanese
texts, where it is used predominantly in educational works or books for young children.
3  A reading gloss, in this context, refers to a word inserted above or beside another that gives its pronunciation or
reading.
4  While the vast majority of ateji pair kanji (Chinese characters) with the furigana, at times we see the main word
to which the furigana is attached written in hiragana, katakana, rōmaji or as entire phrase rather than in kanji. Note
Illustration 2 and the explanation for the ateji 恐怖の間 under the subheading “Catergories of Ateji”.
Columbia East Asia Review 29

analyze its usage in three works by CLAMP,

a group of female artists with a single writer,
Nanase Ohkawa: Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa:
RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, and CLOVER.
CLAMP uses ateji and other visual and liter-
ary techniques to develop characters, create
worlds, and position the reader in relation to
these characters and their worlds. Cardcaptor
Sakura, for example, uses ateji to textually de-
pict the dually Chinese and English origins of
the magic the story revolves around. Clover,
meanwhile, uses ateji to express the changing
meanings and shifting implications of words
within different contexts, whether that be
within the science fiction setting of the story
or a specific conversation.
Before progressing further into the pa-
per, it is useful to provide a concrete example
of the ateji this paper focuses on and the ways
Illustration 1: (CLAMP 2003, Tsubasa I, 58) these ateji function within manga. In Tsubasa:
RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, CLAMP constructs the ateji through pairing the kanji
記憶 (memory) with the furigana こころ　(soul/heart) (Illustration 1).This combina-
tion allows for the integration of the concepts of ‘memory’ and ‘soul’ within the
story’s plot. Establishing this connection between the two words allows the author to
in effect change the significance of these words within the text and to create a unique
understanding of these two ideas that allows for the stabilization of the fantasy world.
This ability to change the significance of words and concepts is one of ateji’s most
integral and unique roles within manga and will be discussed in length later on.
Through this example we see how ateji works in the creation of new meanings and
aids in the storytelling process within CLAMP’s manga.

METHODOLOGICAL NOTES
This study is a continuation of a study I completed in the spring of 2009 that
focused on manga spanning six different genres5 and included a survey of six different
manga zasshi (magazines),6 123 different works, and 3,074 pages. All of the manga
zasshi examined in this previous study were released between November of 2008
and April of 2009. The study focused on the use of wordplay in the form of ateji
but also examined the use of katakana and kanji in these works. While the Spring
5  The study covered six genres: shōnen manga (Shonen Magazine), shōjo manga (Hana to Yume bi-weekly), shōnen manga
aimed at elementary school children (Coro Coro), shōjo manga aimed at elementary school children (Ciao), shōnen manga
aimed at otaku, or adamant fans of manga, (Ace A), and shōjo manga aimed at otaku (Asuka).
6  Manga zasshi are compilations of works by a number of different authors within a single genre. These are published
on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis and include both one-shots and individual chapters of serial series. Most manga
is published in Japan as manga zasshi.
 30 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

2009 study was a general survey of the use of these techniques across a broad range
of contemporary manga; the present study focuses in depth on a small number of
works, looking at how techniques are employed within specific contexts in the story
and examining how ateji usage factors into character voice and story development in
CLAMP’s works.
Although there is scholarship on the use of ateji in the Edo (1603-1868) and
Meiji (1868-1912) periods, no equivalent studies could be found on the use of ateji
in contemporary Japan. Indeed, despite contacting the research center at the Kyoto
International Manga Museum, I could find no reference to the use of ateji in the
past 150 years. While the studies on older examples of ateji provide vital insights
into some of its uses, the usage of ateji in Japanese literature from the Edo or Meiji
Periods is very different from how it is employed in contemporary manga. For this
reason, this paper is based almost entirely upon primary research conducted in the
spring and fall of 2009.

HISTORY OF ATEJI
The contemporary written Japanese language is distinct in many ways from
what it was a mere seventy years ago. On November 16th, 1946, directly following
the Second World War and in large part in response to demands from the US-led
occupation, the Japanese cabinet and Minister of Education jointly issued a list of
1,850 Chinese characters for use in written Japanese (tōyō kanji), down from the
7,500 to 8,000 in use by major newspapers in 1927.7
This change greatly impacted what had become a delicate and complicated
blend of Japanese’s three writing scripts.8 Prior to the 1946 changes, the plethora of
kanji in use meant that few people were fluent enough to read a text without aid.
This brought about the creation of a reading gloss, commonly referred to as furigana
or rubi. Furigana has been used in Japanese texts since at least the beginning of the
Nara period (710-794), appearing in the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) written
in 712.910 It not only enabled writers to use a large variety of kanji regardless of the
reader’s familiarity with them, but also allowed authors to play with the meaning of
common and well-known kanji with words different from those prescribed in the
furigana: ateji.11
7  Roy Andrew Miller, The Japanese Language (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), 133-135.
8  There are three scripts comprising the contemporary Japanese writing system: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Kanji
refers to Chinese characters that have been incorporated for use in the Japanese writing system. Hiragana and katakana
are both phonetic scripts used in place of kanji or when there is no corresponding kanji. Hiragana is normally used for
words of Japanese origin or in combination with kanji acting as verb stems, while katakana is largely used for sound effects
and loan words from foreign languages. Contemporary Japanese also employs the Roman alphabet, called rōmaji, but
it is not considered one of the three primary scripts due to its rare usage in Japanese texts and that it is overwhelmingly
reserved for non-Japanese words.
9  In its earliest form, furigana provided readings for Chinese characters using other Chinese characters that had pre-
established readings. Over time, however, furigana came to be written almost exclusively in either hiragana or katakana.
10  Chieko Ariga, “The Playful Gloss: Rubi in Japanese Literature,” Monumenta Nipponica: Studies on Japanese Culture
Culture Past and Present 44, 3 (1989): 309-335.
11  This use of the term ateji is different from the more common usage referring to kanji in the writing of foreign words
employed on the basis of their phonetic reading, such as in the case of 珈琲 (kōhī [coffee]) being used instead of the
Columbia East Asia Review 31

Ateji use was prevalent during Japan’s Edo and Meiji periods when literature,
particularly satire, flourished. In these periods, ateji was most often used in a comi-
cal way, the meaning of a sentence being simultaneously benign and brimming with
political or social commentary. Chieko Ariga writes that in works from the Edo and
Meiji periods, “the dictionary standard equation of kanji vis-à-vis [furigana] is often
broken and displaced to achieve certain literary effects. The tension created by the
gap between the kanji and [furigana] contexts creates a more complex semantic space,
rendering the reading process more intriguing.”12
Adam Kern also writes on ateji’s use in the Edo period, specifically in the
Kibyōshi, an Edo era picture books for adults. He describes the use of ateji as a “dou-
ble structure of pitting a formal, Chinese layer of text against an informal, playful
Japanese layer,” which “has its analogue in the variational technique of acclimation
(hanemono) in which a Chinese story world is transposed or intertwined with a Jap-
anese one.”13 Kern emphasizes the distinction not only between the two different
meanings simultaneously employed in ateji but also between the two writing systems
(Japanese syllabic writing and Chinese characters) in which the two parts of the ateji
are written. The script in which the kanji and its furigana are written allows for com-
plex semantic implications and nuances, which can then be paired with contrasting
meanings through ateji.
The work of eighteenth-century novelist Hiraga Gennai (1728-1780) also em-
ploys ateji as a literary device. On his use of the tension between furigana and kanji,
Sumie Jones writes that:

These Hiraga-buri sentences create absurdity and achieve satire

by pulling apart, as far as possible, word and meaning, written
language and spoken language, and form and content. In the pro-
cess, however, the sentences also pull together words in different
categories, separate languages and forms, and realities of incom-
patible sorts.14

This “pulling apart” and “pulling together” emphasizes the central use of ateji,
and of Japanese scripts as a whole. Use of furigana can break words into their basic
syllabic functions, while kanji can break words into their basic meanings. Ateji in-
dicates a singular aspect of the kanji and furigana that connects the two, specifying
a specific meaning within the two words. At the same time, ateji combines the full
meaning and implications of the two words, allowing for a breadth of significance
and expression that could not be held within a single word.
In contemporary Japanese, ateji, while still present to a limited extent in litera-

katakana form コーヒー (kōhī [coffee]). It is also considered by some to be an incorrect usage of the term. The term ateji
is employed here because this is the most common term for the technique in the vernacular.
12  Ariga, “The Playful Gloss: Rubi in Japanese Literature,” 321.
13  Adam L. Kern, Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyōshi of Edo Japan (Cambridge:
Harvard University Asia Center, 2006), 166.
14  Sumie Jones, “Language in Crisis: Ogyū Sorai’s Philosophical Thought and Hiraga Gennai’s Creative Practice,”
Principles of Classical Japanese Literature, 246.
32 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

ture, has become increasingly visible in manga. Although it is read by a broad range
of audiences, manga is often written for children and therefore in many cases still
uses furigana for all of its kanji. A comparatively high rate of ateji usage accompanies
this high rate of usage of furigana in many manga. The particular nature of comics, in
which separate panels force readers to create a single, fluid scene in the space between
the panels,15 lends itself to ateji, as the reader must also create a single meaning in
the space between the two words. Manga also employs a variety of different forms
of wordplay using the different Japanese scripts, such as the use of katakana in cases
where kanji or hiragana would traditionally be used, or the use of a rare or uncom-
mon kanji in the place of a simpler, more commonly used kanji. Interestingly, these
techniques are used in portraying conversations, thereby adding a level of written
complexity to the dialogue which would be impossible to express through the verbal
speech that it is supposedly transcribing.

CATEGORIES OF ATEJI
Through both my broader survey research and examination of CLAMP’s works, I
have determined five usage patterns of ateji, which I have labeled Translative (T),
Denotive (D), Contrastive (C), Abbreviation/Contrastive (A/C), and Translative/
Contrastive (T/C).
Translative ateji refer to ateji where the translation for the spoken word writ-
ten in the furigana is provided in the kanji. The ateji 決闘者where the kanji kettōsha
(duelist) is paired with the furigana duerisuto (duelist), and the ateji 恐怖の間 where
the main phrase kyōfu no aida (terror area) is paired with the furigana terā rūmu (ter-
ror room), are examples of Translative ateji.16 Translative ateji almost always involve
words in English. Of the six manga magazines studied in my spring 2009 research,
Translative ateji was used most frequently in Shonen Magazine. In this case, the ateji
was used to explain Western sports terminology, allowing the author to employ a
broad range of terms irrespective of the reader’s familiarity with them and eliminat-
ing the need for cumbersome footnotes that would be detrimental to the visual flow
of the manga.
Translative ateji also lend an aura of foreignness to a work by manipulating
the different connotations of the English and Japanese words. In an informal inter-
view with the young manga artist Kojima Eiyu on April 4, 2009 on his use of ateji
and katakana, he described English words as having an aura of “coolness” to them.
In addition, English words often have different connotations than their Japanese
equivalents for Japanese audiences, thereby allowing Translative ateji to bring out
the tension and contrast between the two words. Kojima gave as an example the title
of his work, 英雄, which combines the kanji 英雄 (eiyū, hero) with the furigana ヒ
ーロー (hīro, hero). While eiyū has the serious connotation of a knight or samurai,
hīro connotes an American cartoon hero who has high hopes of saving others and
achieving greatness but is, in reality, a joke. This is a metaphor for the main character
15  Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (New York: HarperPerennial, 1993), 89.
16  Matsumoto Shigenobu, “Dueru Masutazu Sutā Kurasu,” Getsukan Coro Coro 4 (2009): 119.
Columbia East Asia Review 33
himself, who, though striving to become an eiyū, man-
ages to be stuck at the comical level of the hīro. Kojima’s
ability to express this complexity of meaning in the single
word that comprises his title demonstrates the potential
of Translative ateji.
Denotive ateji refers to ateji in which a proper
noun is given in the kanji while the pronoun actually
spoken by the characters is given in the furigana. This
allows the characters to have conversations referring to
“that,” “he,” etc. without the author worrying whether or
not the reader follows all the references being made. For
example, in xxxHOLiC, Yūko says:
“これで、ノートパソコンは出 [There, now you can't use
the laptop (that) anymore]”17 (Illustration 2). It can also
serve as clarification for those who begin reading mid-
story, providing names for people or things referenced
in conversations. This is particularly important because
Illustration 2: (CLAMP 2003,
manga magazines contain multiple works in sequence,
xxxHOLiC, 157) with different works beginning, continuing, and ending
in each issue. Denotive ateji can also explain a character’s
deeper thoughts about and relationships with characters, employing different kanji
with the same furigana over the course of the story to define the different roles that
a specific character plays or to further elaborate on the relationship between two
characters.
Contrastive ateji is in many ways the most intriguing of the five ateji categories.
It combines two different Japanese words that are not directly referential in the way
of the pronouns and nouns of Denotive ateji. Contrastive ateji enables the writer to
signify a meaning between two the words by playing off the differences and similari-
ties between them and either broadening or narrowing the meanings of the words
in question. This can allow an author to highlight a specific aspect of the words in
question, while also expanding the meaning of the words to encompass deeper and
more complex ideas. It can also clarify a character’s feelings about other characters or
provide clarification for a certain word within the current context. Contrastive ateji
most clearly display the true potential of ateji to give writers in Japanese the ability to
expand beyond pre-established words and their prescribed definitions.
In the Spring 2009 survey, Contrastive ateji was predominantly employed—
particularly in Hana to Yume—in the most of emotional scenes. It is in these scenes
that words are literally incapable of expressing the depth of the characters’ emotions
and feelings, and their words are able to break free of their conventional bounds,
reaching new levels through the combination of two different words, such as in
17  CLAMP, xxxHOLiC, Vol. I, (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2003), 157. The underlined text refers to the main word, in most
cases the kanji but in this case the katakana. The word in parenthesis refers to the furigana. This is only use for ateji, as the
meaning of the text is not effect in instances of standard furigana usage.
34 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

Illustration 1.
Abbreviation/Contrastive and Transla-
tive/Contrastive are both subcategories of
their respective categories. Abbreviation/
Contrastive ateji were found primarily in
Coro Coro magazine and were not found in
any of the CLAMP works studied here. Pair-
ing Roman letters with entire words (usually
English words written in katakana), Abbrevi-
ation/Contrastive ateji was primarily used in
Illustration 3: (CLAMP 1997, 11) fighting scenes and comics about sports in
Coro Coro to represent long and cumbersome
terminology with simple letters. For example, in the ateji the word ゴールキ
ーパー (goalkeeper) as the furigana is simplified down to GK.18 This ateji allows for
quicker reading once the reader is familiar with the abbreviation.
Translative/Contrastive ateji refers to kanji paired with an English (or other
foreign language) reading that is obviously meant to contrast with the Japanese word
written in kanji rather than simply act as a translation. This category only includes
ateji in which the foreign nature of the English word is important and in which the
English word cannot be assumed to be part of the everyday vocabulary its readership.
This form of word play allows for both the sense of foreignness, unfamiliarity, and
alienation in the text inherent in Translative ateji, as well as the tension between the
two words provided by Contrastive ateji. The only convincing examples of this found
in my research were in CLOVER, in which English readings were paired with mul-
tiple different Japanese kanji. For example, in the ateji 暗号 the kanji 暗号, normally
translated as "code," is instead paired with the katakana for the English word “spell”,
while the English word “spell” is paired with the kanji 認識表(ID graph) in the ateji
認識 表 (Illustration 3).

STANDARDIZATION OF ATEJI CATEGORIES

The six works in examined in the spring of 2009 employed ateji in the Translative,
Denotive, Contrastive, and Abbreviation/Contrastive categories, as displayed in Fig-
ure 1. Figure 1 demonstrates large disparities in usage by category among the differ-
ent magazines. While the rates for Shonen Magazine, Ace A, Asuka, and Hana to Yume
show similarities in relative usage of different categories, demonstrating a degree of
similarity along target audience gender lines, the broad nature of the categories fails
to reflect how usage of particular ateji categories varies with the magazine and the
story. Yet, that the ateji, as defined in this paper, found in these works all fell into one
of the four categories is by far the most significant aspect of these findings.
In contrast to those categories employed in the six magazines in Figure 1,
CLAMP’s works employed ateji in the Translative, Translative/Contrastive, Denotive,
18  Yabuno Tenya, “Inazuma Irebun,” Getsukan Coro Coro 4 (2009): 302.
Columbia East Asia Review 35

and Contrastive categories. That all ateji examined over the course of this research fall
into some combination of the above five categories shows that their usage is standard-
ized and can therefore be analyzed in terms of wider trends. In the manga examined,
the usage rate of specific ateji categories demonstrates broad variations along genre
lines, indicating that ateji usage varies according to target audience. At the same time,
variation between different authors and stories is greater than between genres, sug-
gesting that writers maintain the freedom to employ these techniques without being

restricted by the genre in which they are writing.

With all this in mind, it is important to remember that the division of ateji
into categories denotes the primary relationship between the word in the kanji and
the word in the furigana. While the category indicates the broader significance of the
relationship between the two words, it does not definitively indicate the role of that
specific ateji. This specific role can only be understood through analyzing the ateji
in its immediate and broader contexts within the story. The role played by different
ateji in the context of a story may therefore at times be similar across category lines,
even though the concrete relationship between the kanji and furigana in the two ateji
remain different. In short, it is important to recognize that the generalizations made
about the categories are not definitive, and that the significance of the contrast be-
tween the kanji and its furigana must always be examined in the context of the work.

CARDCAPTOR SAKURA
Cardcaptor Sakura gives an invaluable demonstration of how ateji can play an
integral role in manga. The magical foundation of the story is manifested through
Translative ateji that uniquely enable the almost complete integration of Chinese and
Western magic. Cardcaptor Sakura, one of CLAMP’s most popular works, is the story
36 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

of a young girl named Sakura who comes upon a book filled

with magical cards in her father’s study. Opening the book, she
inadvertently breaks the seal holding the cards in, releasing the
spirits inhabiting the cards to wreak havoc on the world. With
the help of the guardian of the book, Cerberus, her friend To-
moyo, and her rival Syaoran, she uses her new status as “Card-
captor” to transform defeated spirits back to their card form.
Once they have been captured and returned to their card form,
they can later be called upon to fight other cards or perform
other tasks as commanded by their captor.
The cards were created by Clow Reed (and are there-
fore known as “Clow Cards”), a very powerful magician whose
father was English and mother was Chinese. This led to his
magic being a melding of English and Chinese magic, a com-
bination apparent in both the physical cards and the magic
used to control them. Each card is provided with three means
of identification: its Chinese name, its English name, and its Illustration 4:
likeness as shown in the center of the card. On each card the (CLAMP 1996, 7)
Chinese name is at the top, while the English name is written at the bottom, such as
in Illustration 4, with the character 風 (wind) on the top and “The Windy” on the
bottom. We can therefore see the cards as literal embodiments of Translative ateji.
When writing her name on the card to claim it, Sakura writes in rōmaji, not hiragana
or katakana. The foreign nature of the cards therefore requires Sakura’s identity itself
to become foreign.
In-text ateji also carries much significance, as demonstrated by the following
excerpt:

Sakura: やっと追いつ [We finally caught up]

Cerberus: さくら！！[Sakura!!]

Sakura: 闇の力を秘めし『鍵』よ！[“Key” which holds hid-

den within it the power of darkness!]

Sakura: 真の姿を我の前に示せ [Show thy true form be-

fore me]
Illustration 5:
(CLAMP 1996, 9) Sakura: 契約のもとさくらが命じる [Sakura under the con-
tract commands you]

Sakura: 『封印解除』[“Release seal (release)”]

Cerberus: さくら！カードを！！ [Sakura! The card!!]
Sakura: わかってる！ [I know!]
Columbia East Asia Review 37

Sakura:『クロウ』の創りしカードよ [Card that “Clow” created]

我が『鍵』に力を貸せ [I lend my power to the “key”]

Sakura: カードに宿りし魔力をこの『鍵』に移し我に力を！ [To this “key” transfer

the power dwelling within the card and to me the power!]

Sakura: 『風 』 [“Wind (windy)”]

Sakura: 風よ！戒めの鎖となれ！ [Wind! Become chains which bind!]

Sakura: なんじのあるべき姿に戻 ！[Return to thy proper form!]

Sakura: 『クロウカード』[“Clow Card”]19 (Illustration 5)

There are a number of important things to note here. Firstly, the kanji used in
reference to the Clow Cards and their associated magic are meant to be in Chinese
rather than Japanese. We can see this in the exclusive use of kanji, without the pho-
netic alphabets that demarcate written Japanese from Chinese. We can also see it in
the choice of obscure kanji not introduced to elementary children, such as the use of
翔, which is not even a jōyō kanji,20 for the card “The Fly.”21 The esoteric nature of
the kanji give the cards a mystical and foreign connotation. The font for the kanji re-
sembles an old, worn-down seal, and the card names are denoted by brackets, further
distinguishing the magical Chinese words from normal conversation. These aspects
of the visual representation of magic not only make it appear foreign but also imply
its ancient and complex nature; the lines between what is Chinese and Western/
ancient are blurred, and the font further indicates the otherness of the character not
only in terms of physical, cultural, and linguistic difference but also in terms of time.
Along with this, it is important to consider the use of ateji within the context
of the medium in which they are being employed: the comic. In comics, particularly
in manga, the text is almost entirely comprised of dialogue. As such, when the manga
is converted to anime, i.e., when the written dialogue becomes spoken conversation,
the textual balance between the two types of magic provided by Translative ateji is
lost. In the Cardcaptor Sakura anime, only the English words are spoken in the incan-
tations of spells.22 Meaning is further lost in both the English dub of the anime and
the English translation of the manga, in which even the foreignness of the English
word becomes lost as the English in the rest of the conversation becomes indistin-
guishable from the English of the spell.
The magic of the Clow Cards is foreign on every level to Cardcaptor Sakura’s

19  CLAMP, Kādo Kyaputā Sakura, Vol. I, (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1996), 9-12.
20  The 1,945 characters specified by the Japanese Ministry of Education for use in schools; a slightly modified version
of the aforementioned tōyō kanji.
21  CLAMP, Kādo Kyaputā Sakura, 59.
22  Cardcaptor Sakura. Episode 1. Directed by Kumiko Takahashi. Written by Nanase Ohkawa. Madhouse, 1998.
38 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

target audience of elementary-aged schoolgirls: from the English furigana paired with
complicated Chinese characters, to the old-style script, to the main character writing
her own name on the cards in rōmaji. Yet, magical powers aside, the main character
is a normal Japanese schoolgirl with a normal school and home life. The normality of
Sakura’s everyday life allows readers to relate to her, while her otherworldly magical
powers and encounters with complex and exotic spirits keep audiences in awe.

CLOVER
Clover drops the reader directly into the story, with no pause for explanation
or introduction; it is the ateji that keep the story afloat. The Translative ateji explain
technological terms, the Denotive ateji clarify relationships, and the Translative/Con-
trastive ateji explain and explore the meaning behind the foreign words in use. The
first volume of this science fiction manga describes the story of a former soldier, Ka-
zuhiko, who accompanies an unnamed girl, identified in later volumes as Sue, to an
amusement park. Their travel by teleportation using a futuristic device is somehow
interrupted and they quickly find themselves beset upon by foes.
As with many science fiction stories
in manga, English words are used when
speaking of technology. This reflects the re-
cent tendency to (1) express new loanwords
with a Japanese phonetic approximation of
their original pronunciation, rather than
give them a native replacement written in
Illustration 6: (CLAMP 1997, 9) kanji and (2) associate technology in gen-
eral with the Western foreign. We can see
a similar trend in the English language, with many technology-related words in sci-
ence fiction employing supposedly technical language that is unfamiliar to the vast
majority of the population. Yet, unlike in English, the readers of Clover in Japanese
are simultaneously provided with an entirely foreign word and an explanation in
their native Japanese. Still, while the kanji provides a Japanese definition, many of the
kanji meant to explain their English furigana through the form of Translative ateji are
used in uncommon and unfamiliar combinations. These definitions of the English
terms are also tentative rather than absolute, as demonstrated by their shifting nature
in the form of Translative/Contrastive ateji.
The first instance of such variable meaning in Clover occurs with the word
コード (code):

General Kō: 手を [Give me your hand...]

General Kō: 印をやろう [...Let’s imprint (code)]

Kazuhiko: ．．．．．．機密事項か [...so it’s highly classified information

Columbia East Asia Review 39

then]

Kazuhiko: いいのか／民間人に [Is it alright / giving it to a civilian]

General Kō: 念を押さなくてもお前は口が固い [You will keep quiet even if

I don’t remind you of how important it is]

Kazuhiko: 緑の葉？ [A green leaf?]

Kazuhiko: 認識表？ [ID graph (code)?]

暗号か？[A code (spell)?]

General Kō: この仕事に必要なものだ [It is necessary for this job]

終わったら消える [Once you’ve finished it will vanish]

Kazuhiko: なにをさせられるんだ？ [What are you going to have me do?]

General Kō: 運んでほしいものがある [There is something I want you to

transport]23 (Illustration 6)

In the above example, two different kanji are given for the word “code” (shi-
rushi (imprint) and ninshikihyō (expression of recognition), as well as the kanji nor-
mally associated with the word “code” (angō) paired with the English word “spell”. So
what exactly does コード (code) mean here? Primarily it is a physical imprint, a seal,
as indicated by the first kanji. But within this physical form lie multiple possibili-
ties. It could be a form of identification (associated with the kanji in the first ateji),
or it could mean a spell (associated with the furigana in the first ateji). The ateji 印
(imprint [code]) can therefore be viewed from two perspectives: verbalization repre-
sented by the furigana and the physical presence represented by the kanji. Both carry
equal semantic significance for the speaker.
The uncertainty of the space created by the ateji in this excerpt is emphasized
by its being left unresolved. Not only is the verbal form dismissed when Kazuhiko’s
question about it remains unanswered, but he is then informed that even the physi-
cal form will vanish. With both the physical and verbal forms discounted, we are
left only with the potential that lies between the two, the potential to realize some
task that relies upon both the physical form and that physical form’s deeper signifi-
cance embodied in the ateji 印. It is here that we can see the potential of ateji to
occupy two different spaces simultaneously, creating an uncertain yet undeniably
significant space between the two. In a single instant it is a verb, a command, a form
of identification, a tool, an imprint, and a spell, symbolizing the deeper significance
23  C������
LAMP, CLOVER, Vol. I, trans. Tetsuto Sokura (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1997), 9-11.
40 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

behind what we are experiencing visually: the appearance of a leaf tattooed through
the physical transfer of rays of data.
In Clover there is also extensive use of Translative/Contrastive and Contrastive
ateji to represent the technological differences between the science fiction world of
the story and the world of the reader. In these instances, many of the English and
Japanese words in the furigana are familiar: movie, norimono (vehicle), bus, plane,
beam, modem. The kanji they are paired with, however, are unfamiliar, even if their
meanings are often close if not equivalent to the English meanings. Examples in-
clude: 記憶 [memory projection (movie)], 移動装 [movement device (vehicle)],
近距離転送 [short-distance transportation device (bus)], 瞬間転送装着 [instan-
taneous transportation device (plane)], 兵器召喚 [weapon-summoning device
(modem)], and 手動光 [manual light (beam)]. All of these ateji combine common
words, particularly words that have become common in both English and Japanese
since the computer technology boom in the 1990s, with complicated kanji-based
words explaining the furigana’s specific context within the story.24 This allows the

Illustration 7: CLAMP 1997, 26

words the characters speak to sound natural and fluid, as the Chinese-based kanji
words in these instances would sound very formal and rigid if spoken. At the same
time, the ateji demonstrate that the technology behind these seemingly familiar words
in the world of the manga is far more advanced than and far different from our own.
These ateji combine the common with the technologically advanced, fluidly present-
ing this world through the simultaneous use of the linguistic and visual aspects of the
manga. They are explained and compared verbally as follows:

Kazuhiko: 移動装置だ [It’s a movement device (vehicle)]

Kazuhiko: 藍が改造した　な [Ran remodeled it, you see]

Kazuhiko: どーみても近距離転送装置なくせに[Although to all appear-

ances it’s a short-distance transportation device (bus)...]

Kazuhiko: 瞬間転送装着より速いんだよ　これが [...It’s faster than an

24 �������
CLAMP, CLOVER, 8, 26, 37, 45.
Columbia East Asia Review 41

instantaneous transportation device (plane), this one]

Sue: こういうのは使ったことない [I’ve never used anything like this]

Kazuhiko: どこの田舎少女（いなかしょうじょ）だ [What part the boonies

are you from]

Gingetsu: 軍が開発した兵器召喚装置だ [This is the weapon-summon-

ing device (modem) the government developed]

Kazuhiko: んなもん民間人に [Givin’ somethin’ like that to a civilian...]

Gingetsu: 紘将軍の依頼だ [General Kō’s orders]

Gingetsu: 楽にすむはずないだろう [You can’t expect things to go smooth-

ly]

Kazuhiko: また右手だけですむといいんだがな [Although it’d be nice if I

could get by with just my right hand]

Kazuhiko: もらっとく [I’ll take it]25 (Illustration 7)

The effects of combining the casual with the technologically fantastic are par-
ticularly remarkable in the above passage, where the modes of transportation in the
comic (represented by the kanji) are both compared to and contrasted with contem-
porary modes of transportation (represented by the furigana). As in our world, buses
are for short trips and planes for high-speed travel over greater distances, but all forms
of transportation here, as we are soon shown through images, rely upon teleportation
rather than movement in the traditional sense. Kazuhiko’s accusation of Sue being an
ignorant countryside girl distances both Sue and the reader from the new world she
has entered; we are just as ignorant as she of the technological intricacies behind what
initially appear to be familiar machines. Through this accusation, Sue is able to exist
in the rift separating the world of the reader from the world of the story. She herself
is as clueless about the technology as the reader, but she is also literally enveloped in
it before the reader’s eyes, her physical acceptance echoing and reinforcing the sus-
pended disbelief of the reader.
Within this exchange, one item stands out in particular: the weapon-summon-
ing device, or “modem,” 兵器召喚.The modem is as foreign to the central character
Kazuhiko as it is to the reader. The reader’s attention to this object and the impli-
cations of its power and its place in the scene quickly supersedes the importance
of the fact that the characters are teleporting. By dismissing the first three terms
as normal but identifying the last as surprising, the writer forces the reader to ac-
25  CLAMP, CLOVER, 26-28.
42 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

cept the normality of the new technology and instead focus

on the modem as out of place. This also directs the reader to
compare the four terms to determine what about the last one
makes it so unique. It initially becomes apparent that while
the furigana of the other three are transportation-based and
common in contemporary language, the furigana “modem”
for this ateji is technical and relatively uncommon. It also fo-
cuses on the explicit transportation of weapons rather than on
transportation in general. In the space of just over a page of
text, therefore, the author is able to establish that teleporta-
tion is a common and normal means of transportation; that
transportation is characterized by the amount of time it takes,
the distance to which it can transport, and whether it is meant
to transport people or weapons; and that the technology of
transportation (specifically that of weapons) is regulated by
the government. While some of these conclusions ccould be
drawn from context, such a clear and concise construction
of the fantasy world vis-à-vis our own would not be possible
without the use of ateji.
Through this example, we can see just one of the roles of
ateji in Clover: it normalizes fantastical technology and reali-
ties through the use of Translative/Contrastive and Contras-
Illustration 8: (CLAMP tive ateji, even as these ateji clearly distinguish the world of
Tsubasa I, 2003, 173) the story from that of the reader. Ateji are the foundation from
which the reader understands the world of the story. Without this foundation, the
world would not be able to exist in this natural, yet strikingly different, universe that
is separate from but connected to our own. By redefining “bus” and “plane,” the au-
thor establishes that what we consider to be buses and planes do not—cannot—exist
in this reality. As a result, our concept of the world (as represented through words)
cannot exist. These ateji demonstrate that words cannot be taken at face value, on
the denotative level. Rather, the idea that within a single word lies expansive and
unrestrained potential is continually reinforced. This, along with the expansive use
of white space and bleeds (where the ink travels to the edge of the page, unbound by
panels), gives the comic a sense of expanding beyond the boundaries of its medium
in terms of time, visual space, and verbal meaning.

TSUBASA
Ateji in Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE are undeniably integral to the story, with
the central theme of the story embodied in just two Contrastive ateji: 記憶 (memo-
ries [soul]) and 羽根 (feathers [shards]). Tsubasa recounts the story of a princess
named Sakura whose memories mysteriously transform into wings, which then fly
away to multiple different dimensions. She and her childhood friend, Syaoran, em-
Columbia East Asia Review 43

bark on a journey to retrieve the feathers and thus return her memories. Transported
to another world, Syaoran and Sakura encounter Kurogane, a warrior forcibly re-
moved from a world to which he wants to return, and Fai, a wizard who wants to
travel to worlds other than his own. Yūko, also known as the Witch of Dimensions,
bestows upon them Mokona, a creature capable of transporting the group to differ-
ent worlds. The story revolves around the group’s travels to different worlds to collect
Sakura’s feathers, where they must recover any feathers located in that world in order
to move on to the next.
The most memorable ateji in Tsubasa are those used in relation to Sakura’s
feathers and memories. Although the kanji for feathers and memories are usually
paired with their normal readings in the furigana, the majority of Contrastive ateji in
Tsubasa relate to these two words, particularly in relation to the kanji for feather. The
priest in Syaoran and Sakura’s home world explains that “．．．．その羽根は姫 [....
those feathers are the princess’s memories (soul)]” and “サクラちゃんの記憶の羽根
[In order to take back the feathers (shards) of Sakura’s memories
you must walk across various worlds]”26 (Illustration 1, Illustration 8).
The use of the word “shards” implies that these memories (feathers) are frag-
mented parts of a larger whole, and furthermore, that within these scattered memo-
ries lies a soul waiting to be unified. Ateji is not only used to illustrate a complex
connection between the physical form of feathers and the abstract conception of
memories, but is also later used to signify the connotation of the feathers as symbols
of great power and influence. The use of ateji to attach more complex connotations
to the feathers also parallels the rising significance of the feathers in the story’s plot.
The concept of feathers as memory shards comprising the soul lies at the crux
of the story, and this central idea is manifested through ateji. The use of these two
ateji are crucial to the understanding of the manga. Tsubasa thus demonstrates the
ability of ateji to carry a depth of meaning that is uniquely capable of embodying an
entire storyline in only a few words.

CONCLUSION
The Japanese language provides writers with unique possibilities for textual repre-
sentation. Writers in Japanese have at their disposal four different writing scripts
(rōmaji, hiragana, katakana, and kanji); ten, a form of emphasis that uses dots placed
alongside words as accent marks; and most intriguingly, ateji, which uses a reading
gloss, furigana, alongside kanji to combine two different words. Ateji can be used as
a technique to explain unfamiliar vocabulary, lend a feeling of foreignness to words,
or broaden their meaning and implication. Different combinations of the scripts of
Japanese, as ateji, printed in various fonts and sizes, are paired with illustrations in
order to create a fluid text with a depth of meaning and character development that
creates an effect unique to the Japanese language.
Manga itself occupies a unique linguistic space within the Japanese language.

26  CLAMP, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Vol. I, (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2003), 58, 173.
44 Lewis • Painting Words and Worlds

With a readership composed predominantly of children and youth, and unacknowl-

edged as a legitimate form of literature, manga writers have a freedom of expression
not found elsewhere in the Japanese language. As a predominantly visual medium,
it is only natural to find an emphasis on the way texts are written out and not sim-
ply on the dialogue. Although restricted by the relatively small vocabulary of their
young readership, writers such as those from CLAMP employ ateji with an astound-
ing depth of creativity, creating a complex semantic space unrivaled by novels. Yet the
ateji are presented with a clarity that allows even children to understand the text. It
is through this use of ateji that CLAMP is able to imbue their stories, characters, and
worlds with the wealth of detail and depth that I believe is the key to their popularity.
Wordplay in manga is constantly changing, paralleling the shifting visual, tech-
nological, and cultural landscape of the Japanese language. Through manipulating
manga’s visually-oriented text, manga authors allow us to view the Japanese language
under a new light. Although CLAMP’s readership is mostly comprised of elementary
school students, their very youth means that their sense of the language is still form-
ing, and they are more open to its creative use. The ways in which concepts are visu-
ally portrayed in CLAMP are therefore likely to be considered valid ways to present
complex ideas and relationships, allowing for the formation of a new understanding
of the written language. It is therefore precisely in the medium of manga that the
written Japanese language is growing and evolving.

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Videos:
Cardcaptor Sakura. Episode 1. Directed by Kumiko Takahashi. Written by Nanase Ohkawa.
Madhouse, 1998.