About this paper
Genkō yōshi (Japanese manuscript paper)
Genkō yōshi (原稿用紙) is the grid paper Japanese students use for essays and compositions. Text runs top to bottom in columns that are read right to left, with one kana, kanji or punctuation mark per square.
The narrow strip beside each column, 30% of the square width here, holds furigana reading aids or corrections. The spacing sets the size of each square: 8–10 mm suits learners, and smaller squares fit more characters per page.