Why can't we read old letters? Beyond cursive, the 'common sense' is different
Have you ever looked at a photo of an old letter or a letter from an ancestor and felt, "I can't read a single character..."? It is easy to think that the cause is only the "cursive script" (kuzushiji) that cannot be identified at a glance. However, even if you transcribe everything into printed text, the content often does not sink in easily.
In this article, I will organize the "reasons why old letters cannot be read" by separating them into character shapes and other factors, summarize the "common sense of writing" that you should grasp before learning cursive script in earnest, and outline study steps for beginners.
1. What is so unreadable?
1-1. The cause is not just the "characters"
The biggest reason why old letters cannot be read is that you are misunderstanding the reasons why old letters cannot be read in the first place. You might assume that only cursive script or variant kana are the enemies, but in reality, (1) the writing style called Sorobun, (2) old formats and etiquette, (3) omissions and idiomatic expressions, and (4) gaps in the "common sense" that supports the text, such as the old calendar, place names, and units, all take effect at the same time. Even if you can read the characters, if you do not understand the rules, the meaning as an old document will not connect.
Therefore, before you become able to "read and translate everything into modern Japanese," it is a shortcut to become able to grasp the framework, such as "which parts are standard phrases and which parts are the actual business" or "who the letter is from and to whom it is addressed." If you clarify your goal as "it's okay if I roughly understand the content" instead of aiming for perfect reading from the beginning, you will be less likely to get discouraged.
1-2. The difficulty varies by era
Actually, the "type of difficulty in reading" also differs by era. Letters from townspeople in the Edo period, while written in Sorobun, often contain phrasing close to spoken language, and are characterized by expressions that reveal the writer's social status or family rank. On the other hand, formal documents from samurai families or government offices are in a form close to Kanbun-kundoku (classical Chinese read as Japanese), with kaeriten (reversion marks) and variations in okurigana (kana suffixes), which presents a different kind of difficulty.
In the Meiji era, official documents in literary style and private letters approaching spoken language existed simultaneously, and one is often confused by the mixture of writing styles. Even when reading a letter from an ancestor, just knowing the rough era and type, such as "is it a private letter from the late Edo period or a government document from the Meiji era?" will change the stance you should take—whether it is closer to Sorobun, Kanbun, or spoken language.
2. The hurdles of writing style and format
2-1. The mechanism of Sorobun and honorifics
Many letters are written in a writing style called Sorobun. This is a literary written language that combines honorific and humble words with "soro," such as "moshisoro" (I say) or "narisoro" (it becomes). Subjects are easily omitted, and because verbs are carefully piled up like "nani-nani tsukamatsurisoro" or "nani-nani tatematsurisoro," the rhythm and the way information is presented are significantly different from modern spoken language.
What I recommend for beginners is to look at honorific parts like "soro," "tatematsuri," and "tsukamatsuri" as "symbols" for the time being, and read by following only the nouns and verbs before and after them. If you learn idiomatic expressions as patterns from standardized Sorobun, such as "gokigen ukagai moshisoro" meaning "I am inquiring about your health" and "onrei moshisoro" meaning "I am expressing my gratitude," the meaning of the entire letter will become easier to see.
2-2. Rules for format, address, and signature
Letters have rules of format. Where to write the address (the recipient's name) and where to place the sender (your own name), signature, and ka-o (stylized signature) was generally decided. There is also etiquette for the layout of the paper, such as adding a postscript after the main text or writing only the essential business briefly on a separate small piece of paper (hashigaki). Just by learning the positional relationships first, you can see what kind of historical document it is, "from whom to whom."
For example, if there is a collapsed seal-like mark under the names lined up vertically at the end, it is highly likely to be a ka-o. Also, even if a long preamble or seasonal greeting continues at the beginning, it is often just a formal standard phrase, and the main subject is only the few lines that follow. If you get into the habit of dividing the structure first, saying "this is the greeting zone, this is the main text" before reading the characters, it will become much easier to read.
3. Omissions and "gaps in common sense"
3-1. Reading information that is not written
Old letters are made of omissions and shared premises. Information that is taken for granted between the writer and the recipient is often omitted, including names and business. Even if it is written as "senjitsu moshisoro-tori" (as I said the other day) or "migi no o-omomuki go-shochi kudasare soro" (please understand the above matter), you cannot understand what that "omomuki" (matter) is unless you know the previous exchanges or verbal promises. This is a major difference from the modern sense that a text is complete on its own.
What is useful here is a way of reading that focuses on the relationship, social status, and family rank with the other party. For example, if there are many humble words and the other party is being elevated as "go-otona-sama," it is clearly a letter to a superior. In that case, you can infer that it is likely business such as a "request," "apology," or "report." Supplementing information not in the text from "who wrote it to whom" is an important trick for reading old documents.
3-2. Stumbling over calendars, place names, and units
Another major hurdle is the common sense of the old calendar, place names, and units. Dates are written using the era name, the sexagenary cycle, and the month and day of the old calendar, such as "Keio 3, Hinoto-u, 8th month, lucky day" or "Kaei 7, 3rd month, 23rd day." Place names also use house names or common names like "Kyobashi-dori 3-chome, so-and-so-ya," which do not correspond directly to modern addresses. Distances and amounts also feature units different from today, such as "two ri," "thirty monme," and "five kanmon."
It is difficult to convert these perfectly, but a rough understanding—such as "a lucky day is generally a good day at the end of the month," "monme is a small unit of weight," and "kan is a substantial amount of money"—is quite useful. If you read only the lines for dates, locations, and amounts first to grasp "when, where, and what the topic is" before diving into the detailed cursive script of the main text, it becomes much easier to draw a map of the information.
4. Study steps before cursive script
4-1. How to choose historical materials for beginners
If you are learning to read old documents on your own, it is recommended to start with materials for beginners rather than suddenly tackling difficult letters from your ancestors. Specifically, materials often used include textbooks for children or collections of letter templates, which contain example sentences written in soroebun (epistolary style) accompanied by reading guides and modern Japanese translations. Since the same set phrases appear repeatedly, you will naturally pick up the patterns.
At first, instead of trying to "translate the whole text," it is enough to just look at it with the intention of color-coding the "recipient, date, greeting, main topic, and closing." Once you get used to it, try looking up only the frequently appearing characters in a cursive dictionary, and with a chart of hentaigana (variant kana) in hand, try to trace the set phrases yourself. You can gradually get used to the detailed kanbun reading and kaeriten (reversal marks) as you progress to official government documents.
4-2. Strategy for reading ancestors' letters
When you want to read letters from your ancestors, a strategy of not aiming for a full translation right away is effective. First, check only the format: the date and era name, the recipient and sender/signature, the kao (stylized signature), and the presence of postscripts or marginal notes. Next, treat the seasonal greeting at the beginning as a whole as just "a greeting," and try to judge only whether the paragraph that seems to be the main topic is "making a request" or "making a report."
Once you have done that, look up only the words you are curious about. It is natural not to be able to read cursive or hentaigana at first, so it is important to accumulate small successes, such as "I was able to read this one line" or "I understood this set phrase." By separating the difficulty of cursive script from the differences in writing rules and dividing the roles—"supplement characters with a dictionary, infer meaning from the format"—you can enjoy engaging with old historical materials for a long time.
Summary
Looking at the rules before the cursive script is the shortcut to old letters. You can see that the "reason why we cannot read old letters" is due to the overlapping of not just cursive script and hentaigana, but also the epistolary style, formats and etiquette, set phrases and abbreviations, and the "gaps in common sense" regarding the old calendar, place names, and units. Conversely, if you roughly grasp these rules, it is quite possible even for a beginner to read "who it is from, who it is to, when it was written, and what the business is." When challenging yourself with old documents through self-study, first master the patterns using materials with reading guides like textbooks or templates, and then approach your ancestors' letters in the order of "format → relationship → business → detailed characters." If you can organize the reasons why you cannot read them, the daily life and feelings of that time should gradually emerge from each letter.