Why use kana rather than kanji (and vice versa)


I hope this question actually has an answer and is topical to this site. I was
wondering if anyone could explain why (in general) an author might choose to
use kana/kanji in circumstances where kanji/kana are more commonly used. Can
it convey some additional meaning maybe?

If this question is too general (as I suspect it might be), I'd like to
specifically ask about the title of the game **ひぐらしのなく頃に**. It seems strange
to me that the author would use kanji for 頃, which I commonly see written in
kana, while at the same time leaving なく, which I usually see written in kanji
(泣く), in hiragana.




It's hard to answer this "generally"... there are many reasons to use kanji
over hiragana, katakana over kanji, etc. But basically it's a stylistic
choice. If you keep on reading manga, I think you will gradually understand
the image of hiragana, katakana and kanji.

  * [Why are katakana preferred over hiragana or kanji sometimes?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1930/5010)
  * [Why is Toyota typically written in Katakana? (トヨタ)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/31078/5010)
  * [ニッポン? Why Kana?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/17799/5010)
  * [What does it mean for the 'feel' of a sentence / text when it's written in all hiragana?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15108/5010)

* * *

As for ひぐらしのなく頃に, なく seems to be intentionally in hiragana. Here's the
official title logo:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5xC49.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5xC49.png)

なく is a verb which has many kanji with different meanings.

  * 泣く
  * 鳴く
  * 啼く
  * 哭く

You should be able to distinguish 鳴く and 泣く because the difference is basic
and important (see [this
page](http://nihongoletsgo.blogspot.jp/2010/06/verbs-2-or.html)). The
remaining two are poetic variants which are less important but have stronger
rhetoric effects (typical 哭く is like
[this](https://youtu.be/Ldk_6CzFcgc?t=58s)). So using hiragana なく will create
ambiguity, and using the red color will make it look even more mysterious. The
audience will wonder if there is some special meaning here.

As for 頃に, I doubt there is a special implication here. It is true that this 頃
should be written in hiragana in formal documents ([because it's a
形式名詞](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3733/5010)), but novelists tend to
ignore such rules and use whatever kanji they want. This 頃 looks fairly
"normal" to me. If it had been in hiragana, all the letters in the title would
have been in hiragana, which might give some other unwanted impression (being
childish, too much "moe"-like, comedic, etc.).




It's hard to answer this "generally"... there are many reasons to use kanji
over hiragana, katakana over kanji, etc. But basically it's a stylistic
choice. If you keep on reading manga, I think you will gradually understand
the image of hiragana, katakana and kanji.

  * [Why are katakana preferred over hiragana or kanji sometimes?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1930/5010)
  * [Why is Toyota typically written in Katakana? (トヨタ)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/31078/5010)
  * [ニッポン? Why Kana?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/17799/5010)
  * [What does it mean for the 'feel' of a sentence / text when it's written in all hiragana?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15108/5010)

* * *

As for ひぐらしのなく頃に, なく seems to be intentionally in hiragana. Here's the
official title logo:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5xC49.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5xC49.png)

なく is a verb which has many kanji with different meanings.

  * 泣く
  * 鳴く
  * 啼く
  * 哭く

You should be able to distinguish 鳴く and 泣く because the difference is basic
and important (see [this
page](http://nihongoletsgo.blogspot.jp/2010/06/verbs-2-or.html)). The
remaining two are poetic variants which are less important but have stronger
rhetoric effects (typical 哭く is like
[this](https://youtu.be/Ldk_6CzFcgc?t=58s)). So using hiragana なく will create
ambiguity, and using the red color will make it look even more mysterious. The
audience will wonder if there is some special meaning here.

As for 頃に, I doubt there is a special implication here. It is true that this 頃
should be written in hiragana in formal documents ([because it's a
形式名詞](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3733/5010)), but novelists tend to
ignore such rules and use whatever kanji they want. This 頃 looks fairly
"normal" to me. If it had been in hiragana, all the letters in the title would
have been in hiragana, which might give some other unwanted impression (being
childish, too much "moe"-like, comedic, etc.).

