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It is my understanding that Japanese text is written top-to-bottom. I think
the Japanese manga also follow this format:

![Example](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aaN0v.png)

That was a quick Google search so not even sure it is real.

However, watching Anime, I've noticed that the text seems to be horizontal.
Why is that?


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question
anime-production japanese-language
Why does text in anime read horizontally?


Japanese can be written either [horizontally or
vertically](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_and_vertical_writing_in_East_Asian_scripts).
Vertical writing is known as _tategaki_ (縦書き) and is notably used in manga.
When writing vertically, columns of text are read top-to-bottom, right-to-
left, which is why manga panels are also read this way. Horizontal writing is
called _yokogaki_ (横書き) and is written left-to-right, top-to-bottom exactly as
English text is. There's also an obsolete form, _migi yokogaki_ (右横書き), which
is read horizontally but right-to-left; this is only used in a couple of
series for stylistic reasons. The orientation of the characters in all of
these styles of writing is the same.

Both styles can be found in anime. I think it is probably true that horizontal
writing is more common than vertical writing, but it depends on the format of
the writing. In general, horizontal writing is the more modern style, which
was adopted during the Meiji era to conform to western styles of writing.
Traditionally Japanese is written vertically (this tradition originates in
China as do most Japanese linguistic traditions). The Meiji era is also when
the Japanese language was really standardized (before that it was basically a
collection of regional dialects), so naturally this was a time when a lot of
changes were made to the language and partial adoption of horizontal writing
is just one of them.

In terms of usage, vertical writing is used in newspapers, novels,
calligraphy, and manga, while horizontal writing is used for academic writing,
computer text, and many other everyday tasks. The text you see in anime is
usually fairly representative of what direction it would typically be written
in Japan. Likewise, in manga, text other than dialogue (e.g. on signs) often
appears both horizontally and vertically. For anime, when there is flashing
text on the screen not part of any signs (e.g. in Bakemonogatari), these are
more frequently horizontal, probably because television screens are oriented
horizontally (landscape), but there are examples of vertical writing in such
cases as well.

Here's an example from Monogatari Series Second Season (episode 7) with both
tategaki and migi yokogaki writing. The sign on the left is written
vertically, while the ones on the right is horizontal but right-to-left.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yVAtH.jpg)

Here's an example of flashing text from the same episode, written with
ordinary yokogaki (left-to-right) writing:

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hbcMhl.jpg)


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> I was originally thinking of text that appeared in credits, titles, and non-
> in-show elements.

Very well. Credits and titles.

Yokogaki (horizontal) titles are more common in anime, most likely due to the
fact that TV screens are horizontal. For the case of _Oreimo_ , the title on
the light novel cover was tategaki (because the book is in tategaki writing)
but was changed to yokogaki in the anime while retaining the font.

![Oreimo titles](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ni8DT.jpg)

Nothing prevents anybody from opting for a tategaki anime title, however. An
example can be seen in _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ , but you can see
that the layout is pretty tight.

![Haruhi title screen](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kglkT.jpg)

Same thing with credits. Yokogaki is more common, but you can find tategaki
credits from time to time. For example, ED of _Nichijou_ as seen below. It's
all a matter of layout and aesthetics.

![Nichijou credits](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rCjLv.png)


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