When writing by hand, can kana be half-width and kanji be full-width?


Simply I find when I'm writing I can only make kanji so small before they
become sloppy, but I can write kana nice and small. Is it allowed to write
half-width Katakana/Hiragana alongside regular width Kanji?

If you can how would this work horizontally and vertically? If not, what's the
point of half-width?




This probably varies from person to person, at least a little bit, but
**generally each character should be approximately the same size as any others
(i.e. full-width)**. If you don't, especially with katakana (which are formed
from pieces of kanji), you can end up with situations where **you cannot tell
whether something is kana or kanji**. For example

>   * ﾒﾘ vs 刈
>   * ｶﾛ vs 加
>   * and probably many others that don't come to mind immediately.
>

I'm not entirely sure what the general use of half-width kana is; the only
places I have ever seen it used is in places that are never mixed with kanji,
such as the name input for a bank transfer at an ATM (my name is also recorded
in half-width katakana in my bank book). Many websites also explicitly require
you to input the reading of your name in full-width kana, as well.

I would say that the general rule of **always use full-width unless explicitly
told otherwise** is probably safe.




This probably varies from person to person, at least a little bit, but
**generally each character should be approximately the same size as any others
(i.e. full-width)**. If you don't, especially with katakana (which are formed
from pieces of kanji), you can end up with situations where **you cannot tell
whether something is kana or kanji**. For example

>   * ﾒﾘ vs 刈
>   * ｶﾛ vs 加
>   * and probably many others that don't come to mind immediately.
>

I'm not entirely sure what the general use of half-width kana is; the only
places I have ever seen it used is in places that are never mixed with kanji,
such as the name input for a bank transfer at an ATM (my name is also recorded
in half-width katakana in my bank book). Many websites also explicitly require
you to input the reading of your name in full-width kana, as well.

I would say that the general rule of **always use full-width unless explicitly
told otherwise** is probably safe.

