Chen Jing, Lee Zhi Hui, Ng Jia Min, and Tan Jinhe investigated how the similarities between the Chinese Han characters adopted in Japanese kanji have resulted in variations over two thousand years in which traditional and simplified forms of Chinese characters were both adopted (Lu, 2002). The Japanese kanji is largely adopted from traditional Chinese characters and has been made unique to the Japanese through modifications of the original Chinese characters. For example, 氣 (Chinese) is written as 気 (Japanese) and 廣 (Chinese) as 広 (Japanese). Although their general form remains the same, the Japanese have distinguished themselves from their Chinese counterparts through such modifications.

They studied the similarities between the two cultures in which balance, symmetry and harmony play a part in the evolution of the Japanese and Chinese writing systems, where they share the common trait of writing characters in a square grid with radicals. Their primary research was done through interviewing linguistic experts of both languages and supported by secondary research of reviewing scholarly journals, comparing of the Chinese hanzi and Japanese kanji, and identification of patterns of modification.

According to Japanese language teacher Akiko Amitani (B.A. in Japanese History), while the younger generation Japanese in their 20's and 30's are open to foreign culture due to travel and business exchanges, the generation before them is less receptive. But despite the influence of foreign culture in Japan, a child's upbringing still emphasizes balance and symmetry, the two cultural beliefs the Japanese have adhered to since ancient times (Amitani, personal communication, April 8, 2011). Symmetry is evident in the designs of old Japanese architecture such as the Buddhist temples and even small details in one's appearance such as the proportion of one's hair parting, while balance can be seen from their belief in dialectics, such as yin and yang, sun and moon, and day and night (Kitayama & Markus, 1999). From the in-depth interviews, it can be inferred that the Japanese perception of beauty and aesthetics would explain their choice of traditional Chinese characters over of the simplified version as they value people's perception of them through their outward presentation such as one's handwriting (Hendry, 1995).

Another factor that contributed to the evolution of Chinese characters in the Japanese writing system is the simplification of characters. According to Amitani, when the Chinese started using simplified characters, the Japanese attempted to adopt them. However, as mentioned previously, they were uncomfortable with the asymmetrical shapes of certain characters like 气 and 广, hence they added elements for aesthetic balance, which led to the creations of 気 and 広 respectively.

When it comes to simplification, we also found from our interviews that the Japanese not only simplified individual characters but also idioms widely used in China. One example would be the Chinese idiom 指鹿为马, which literally means "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse" and has the connotation of "stupid". Based on this meaning, the Japanese shortened the idiom to 馬鹿 (pronounced at baka in Japanese) to mean "idiot". These two forms of simplification portrays the minimalist nature of the Japanese and how they do not adopt the Chinese simplification completely. Instead, their cultural beliefs play a large role in deciding how they simplify their characters and made them unique to Japan.

The students predicted there might be less use of kanji in the future. The technological advancement in Japan in recent years may have made it difficult for kanji to survive and the ease and convenience of typing on the computer may replace writing by hand. Consequently, younger generations may be less accustomed to writing kanji by hand and gradually lose touch with it. According to Tsujita, the lifestyle changes resulting from technological advancement may lead to young people "being able to read but cannot produce", as is evident in the increased use of Hiragana in place of easy Kanji on television subtitles. For the Japanese to be "well-informed and fully articulate in both domestic and foreign affairs, they must be given a more simple medium of reading and writing than the Kanji" (Tsujita, personal communication, April 19, 2011).

Due to the learning difficulties involved, the government may further simplify the current set of Kanji characters to accommodate a trend towards simpler symbols such as the Hiragana and Katakana, following the footsteps of the Korean language as they gradually remove the Hanja (Chinese characters) and only write with the unique Hangul (Korean characters) now.

Sources:
Hendry, J. (1995). Wrapping culture: Politeness, presentation and power in Japan and other societies. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Kitayama, S. & Markus, H.R. (1999). Yin and yang of the Japanese self. The Coherence of Personality: Social-cognitive Bases of Consistency, Variability, and Organization, 242-250.

Lu, X.G. (2002). The spread of Chinese characters into Japan and the origin and
formation of Japanese characters. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 34, 88-97.