42584
In my experience, the above listed reading materials are all read from left
cover to right cover, page one is the last page from a western perspective. I
have been unable to find a reason for this publishing style.

In contrast, my Japanese dictionaries all have the first page on the left-hand
side and the last on the right-hand side. In the west, _everything_ is read
from left cover to right cover, whilst in Japan there is variation.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-01-16T16:42:25.133
42580
2022-03-24T05:56:54.850
2022-03-24T05:56:54.850
4477
18435
question
culture typesetting publishing
Why are most Japanese newspapers, magazines and books read from back to front?
Japanese can be written in two directions.

  1. in columns

    * each column is written from top to bottom
    * columns are arranged from right to left
  2. in rows [as in English]

    * each row is written from left to right
    * rows are arranged from top to bottom

The first is used for most newspapers, books (incl. manga), etc. Individual
pages are thus bound on the right and thus, from a Western perspective appear
to be read from the "back".

(By the way, I also have a 漢和字典 that is typeset in columns, thus bound on the
right, and thus read "back to front".)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-16T19:26:04.727
42584
2017-01-16T19:26:04.727
1628
42580
answer