95797
Is it 'compulsory' that I can't use 蛸 in the word たこ焼き for 'octopus' and what
would happen if I used it in a sign in Japan? Would police direct me to remove
it?

For 外人, nothing specific is told about what happens to people who use Hyōgai
kanji, or kanji outside of what's 'permitted' by the government.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-13T09:54:17.460
95795
2022-08-14T00:50:11.347
51143
question
kanji
Hyōgai kanji usage
What is (almost) regulated is mostly publishing, like books and magazines. The
government punishes nobody for using rare kanji, but publishers tend to have
in-house rules that are based on the government's recommendations, with
different levels of internal enforcement.

Newspapers tend to be strict about that. Lenient publishers might just warn
the author and ultimately let what they want to do, if the author persists.
Publishers and authors are perfectly fine to do so.

That is just this non-expert's impression. For professional assessment, see
<https://kotobaken.jp/qa/yokuaru/qa-119/> (in Japanese).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-13T10:08:45.067
95796
2022-08-13T10:08:45.067
10531
95795
answer
Almost no Japanese people strictly remember which is a jōyō-kanji and which is
not. Many hyōgai kanji are used by native speakers without even realizing it's
so (e.g., 絆, 飴, 雫...). Of course, the police won't care, either.

Newspapers tend to follow the rule of not using hyōgai-kanji relatively
strictly, but even newspaper publishers have their own lists of exceptional
characters that are hyōgai but usable in articles.

That said, the spelling of _takoyaki_ seen on signboards, Wikipedia articles
and such is almost always たこ焼き (and rarely タコ焼き). If you used 蛸焼き, it would
look simply unfamiliar, and some people might even wonder if you're selling
something unusual.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-13T10:31:49.437
95797
2022-08-14T00:50:11.347
2022-08-14T00:50:11.347
5010
5010
95795
answer