section_path: Reform and standardisation/Japan
section_name: Japan
paragraph_text: Japan
  
  After World War II, the Japanese government instituted its own program of orthographic reforms. Some characters were assigned simplified forms called shinjitai; the older forms were then labelled kyūjitai. Inconsistent use of different variant forms was discouraged, and lists of characters to be taught to students at each grade level were developed. The first of these was the 1850 -character tōyō kanji list published in 1946, later replaced by the 1945 -character jōyō kanji list in 1981. In 2010, the jōyō kanji were expanded to include a total of 2136 characters. The Japanese government restricts characters that may be used in names to the jōyō kanji, plus an additional list of 983 jinmeiyō kanji whose use are historically prevalent in names.