Kaibun

Kaibun (回文; lit. circle sentence) isJapanese equivalentpalindrome, orother words,sentence that readsame frombeginning toend or fromend tobeginning. The unitkaibunmora sinceJapanese language uses syllabaries, hiraganakatakana.

Single word palidromesnot uncommonJapanese. For example, Ku-ku (九九 9x9 matrix), Shi-n-bu-n-shi (新聞紙 newspaper), etc. So kaibun usually refers topalindromic sentence, butpassage can bekaibun too.

The topic marker "wa" (は) can be treated as "ha"small kana ゃ,ゅょusually allowedbe interpreted as big kana や, ゆよ. In classics, diacritic marksoften ignored.

Famous Kaibun

• Ta-ke-ya-bu ya-ke-ta (竹薮焼けた) - A bamboo grove has been burned.
• Wa-ta-shi ma-ke-ma-shi-ta-wa (私負けましたわ) - I have lost.
• Na-ga-ki yo-no to-ho-no ne-bu-ri-no mi-na me-za-me na-mi-no-ri-bu-ne-no o-to-no-yo-ki-ka-na (長き世の 遠の眠りの 皆目覚め 波乗り船の 音の良きかな) Tanka