Cataloging Tools and Resources
Applied Rules for Characters and "Yomi"
This page provides the National Diet Library's rules for characters and "Yomi", kanji readings, used to create both bibliographic and authority data in JAPAN/MARC MARC21 format.
Rules for Characters
- 文字の取扱い基準 (2021年1月) (Rules for Characters (January 2021) (PDF: 396KB)) (in Japanese)
- 文字の取扱い基準に基づく対応を行った文字一覧 (2012年1月以降) (List of Characters that Require Special Handling (after January 2012) (PDF: 1.55MB) (in Japanese) (Last Updated 2025-10-24)
Earlier rules are available here.
- From Jan. 2012 through Dec. 2020 (PDF: 169KB) (in Japanese)
- From Apr. 2008 through Dec. 2011 (in Japanese)
- From Apr. 2002 through Mar. 2008 (in Japanese)
- From Jan. 1998 through Mar. 2002 (in Japanese)
- In or before Dec. 1997 (in Japanese)
Rules for "Yomi" (reading kanji)
- 読みの基準 (2021年1月) (Rules for "Yomi" (reading kanji) (January 2021)) (PDF: 964KB) (in Japanese) (Last Updated 2025-08-12)
For earlier rules, please see Earlier rules for "Yomi" (in Japanese).