Glossary
Furigana
Furigana are small kana characters printed beside or above kanji to show how they are read. Manga for younger readers often puts furigana on every kanji, and other manga uses it for rare words, names and invented readings. For a manga translator, furigana is tiny text that can confuse OCR.
What furigana is
Furigana is a reading aid: small hiragana or katakana set next to a kanji to spell out its pronunciation. In vertical Japanese text it sits to the right of the kanji; in horizontal text it sits above. The kanji 漢字 with furigana かんじ, for example, tells the reader it is read kanji.
Why manga uses it
- Shōnen and children's manga add furigana to almost every kanji, so younger readers can follow.
- Rare kanji, names and place names get furigana in manga for all ages.
- Authors use it for wordplay: the kanji says one thing and the furigana gives a different reading, such as a technique name with a foreign word as its reading.
Why it is hard for translation
Furigana is much smaller than the main text, so on a small or compressed scan it blurs into the lettering next to it. A text reader can then add stray kana to the line, or misread the kanji beside it. When an author uses furigana for a second meaning, the translation has to choose which one to keep.
How RuneManga handles it
RuneManga reads Japanese with a reader built for manga, the kind of text where furigana is common. The whole bubble is erased and replaced with the translation, so the furigana does not appear in the result. On small scans, furigana can still blur into the main text and confuse recognition, so the size of the image matters more on furigana-heavy pages.
Common problems and fixes
- Stray syllables appear in the translation: the furigana was read as part of the line. Use a larger scan.
- A name is translated as a word: the kanji had an unusual reading. Check the original and keep a short list of names.
- Wordplay is lost: only one reading survives in translation. Compare the original if the line matters.
Is furigana the same as romaji?
No. Furigana is written in Japanese kana. Romaji is Japanese written in the Latin alphabet.
Does RuneManga keep the furigana in the result?
No. The whole bubble, furigana included, is erased and replaced with the translation.