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Is it always legal to replace the kanji iteration mark 々 by the kanji it represents? If not: When is it legal to replace "K々" by "KK" for some kanji K?

I am aware of three use cases of 々:

  • reduplication (possibly involving rendaku), such as 人々 (ひとびと)
  • certain names, such as 佐々木 (ささき)
  • some compound nouns of the form [A B] [B C] (written exceptionally as AB々C), such as ほげほげ町々会 (where ほげ represents a name) and 結婚式々場

As I am a real beginner, I dare neither elaborate on any of these cases nor speculate about what common practice might be.

I would find information about any of the following interesting:

  • what some authorities consider correct
  • what majority usage is
  • how deviations from majority usage might be perceived
  • usage in poetry (where more creative license might be taken)
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  • The Japanese entry simply states 慣用的に用いる場合もある. I don't see how 結婚式式場 implies a ceremony happens twice.
    – aguijonazo
    Commented May 13 at 1:34
  • The article you linked clearly says "not across lexical boundaries". Doesn't this mean 々 is not "always legal"? What else do you want to know?
    – naruto
    Commented May 13 at 3:35
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    @naruto My question is not about whether repeated kanji KK can always legally be replaced by K々. Instead my question is about the other direction: whether K々 can always legally be replaced by KK.
    – Lover of Structure
    Commented May 13 at 4:14

1 Answer 1

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my question is about the other direction: whether K々 can always legally be replaced by KK.

If that's what you're asking, the answer is "No".

  • Although this is an outdated convention, a double 々 is sometimes used to repeat two kanji as a pair: 都度々々 (=都度都度, not 都度度度), 一歩々々 (=一歩一歩, not 一歩歩歩).
  • Even when a 々 represents the previous kanji, words like 人々 and 国々 are almost always written using 々 in modern Japanese, and writing them as 人人 or 国国 looks very weird and confusing. Even if it may be "legal", you should think of this as practically impossible in Japanese. (You may find some exceptions in older documents written more than 50 years ago.)
  • In particular, you must never change the appearance of names such as 佐々木 or 代々木. You may see signs on trains for Chinese passengers where Yoyogi is written as 代代木, but Japanese people might take a few seconds to recognize 代代木 as a famous place name.
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  • What is your impression of the 3rd category I mentioned, namely certain {[A B] [B C]}-compounds?
    – Lover of Structure
    Commented May 13 at 5:18
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    @LoverofStructure We should never write something like 民主々義 or 中国々旗 in standard Japanese, as is clearly mentioned in the article you linked. 結婚式々場 is a minor idiosyncratic exception based on some superstition in the wedding industry, and you shouldn't worry about this too much. "X町々会" looks clearly nonstandard and old to me, like something written by someone older than 70.
    – naruto
    Commented May 13 at 7:13
  • @naruto what is the superstition that 結婚式々場 is based on?
    – maritsm
    Commented May 21 at 13:59
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    @maritsm In the wedding setting, some believe even numbers (2, 4, 6, ...) are ominous because they are associated with being easily "divided", so writing two 式 in a row should be avoided 😁 Few people actually worry about this today, though.
    – naruto
    Commented May 21 at 21:36
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    @LoverofStructure I don't know how you learned it, but it's not marginal. It's no differnet from 国国/人人. Don't use it.
    – naruto
    Commented Aug 10 at 4:28

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