everyone. Just today I was remembering an old videogame, 星を見る人. "Problem" is,
if you look at all official images and such, they write the title as 星をみるひと.

Now, I've been searching about possible explanations for this, but none of the
ones I found sounds quite convincing to me. The two kanji that are replaced by
hiragana are quite simple and basic-level (much more so than the kanji for
star).

Could it be that the people who designed the title were looking to draw
attention away from "see" and "people" to focus mainly on the "stars" bit? As
an occidental foreigner I find it odd, since to me one of the most beautiful
aspects of the japanese language is the aesthetic beauty of kanji.

Thanks in advance, mates!
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2017-07-23T14:16:43.390
51654
2017-07-24T02:34:22.083
25091
question
kanji spelling
Choosing hiragana over simple kanji?
> Just today I was remembering an old videogame, 星を見る人. "Problem" is, if you
> look at all official images and such, they write the title as 星をみるひと.
>
> Could it be that the people who designed the title were looking to draw
> attention away from "see" and "people" to focus mainly on the "stars" bit?
> As an occidental foreigner I find it odd, since to me one of the most
> beautiful aspects of the japanese language is the aesthetic beauty of kanji.

星を見る人 is balanced and easier to read, but that must be the result of the
creator's effort to satisfy the audience's expectation. They might have
technical or emotional reasoning for it, but the point for them is to have a
catchy proper noun; the overall appearance is the most important thing for
them over readability. The excess use of hiragana let the audience expect
something extra inviting and friendly.
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2017-07-23T16:25:28.030
51657
2017-07-23T16:25:28.030
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
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answer
In this specific case, I think hiragana were chosen to introduce ambiguity. 見る
simply means "to look", but there are also 観る (to observe), 診る (to examine (a
patient)), 看る (to take care), etc., which have small difference in meaning and
impression. When I see 星をみるひと, I feel it may have some deep and hidden meaning
in it. This can explain why hiragana was chosen at least for some titles. For
example, see: [Why use kana rather than kanji (and vice
versa)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/37083/5010)

I read the plot of the game, including spoilers, and confirmed my impression
was true. This 星をみるひと does not simply refer to some person who likes to see
stars. This 星をみるひと refers to some "humanoid" working as an invisible
"caretaker/peacemaker" of the "star", and the main characters in the game
strive to find out who is the real ruler of the "star", and what their "star"
actually is. At least there are three types of "humans" in the game, and
ordinary 人間 is just one of them. Therefore, みる and ひと were intentionally in
hiragana to imply there is a hidden meaning in it.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T02:34:22.083
51672
2017-07-24T02:34:22.083
5010
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answer