In my last column, on Aug. 5, I discussed how Japanese people still find it practical to use kanji (Sino-Japanese ideographs) when adopting new foreign terms and modern concepts.
Writing in the "Meikai, yōkai (明解要解, A need for clear understanding)" column in the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 20), Masaji Oshida explored the topic of how many new kanji terms coined in Japan have also taken root in China.
Oshida took up the theme after reading a letter from Liu Meixiang, a Chinese-language instructor living in Tokyo.