At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, famous scientists Yamagata Banto, Shiba Kokan, and Honda Toshiaki - representatives of the "Dutch school" (蘭学/rangaku/) - advocated the abolition of hieroglyphs, considering that they could be replaced by kana or Latin. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), there were repeated calls to reform the writing system in Japan, while it was proposed to either limit the number of hieroglyphs in active use, or completely switch to kana or Latin. Similar appeals were heard in the 20th century. This proposal was not supported by many specialists, and such a radical reform was not carried out. However, it became mandatory to duplicate names on railway and street signs in Latin.

Why do you think it was not possible to switch to Latin or kana? Share in the comments!