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Halfwidth Ideographic Comma Letter

Halfwidth ideographic comma 、 is a Japanese-style comma form used in East Asian typography.

U+FF64

The symbol 、 is called the halfwidth ideographic comma. It’s commonly used when you want punctuation that matches Japanese-style spacing and layout. This page helps you copy it, understand how it differs from other commas, and use the correct encoding in software.

Halfwidth Ideographic Comma Letter Meaning

The halfwidth ideographic comma (、) is a comma punctuation mark used in Japanese-style text. It is “ideographic” in the sense that it’s designed to fit East Asian typography conventions, but in a halfwidth form rather than fullwidth. Compared with the standard ASCII comma (,) it has a different width and visual rhythm, which can matter for alignment in fixed-width layouts, typography, and UI strings. It’s especially useful when you need punctuation that looks consistent with other halfwidth characters or when working with legacy encodings and character width rules.

Common uses

  • Typing Japanese-style lists or pauses in plain text where halfwidth punctuation is preferred
  • UI labels and tooltips that must match East Asian punctuation width for alignment
  • Log messages and data exports that need consistent halfwidth punctuation
  • Web content and templates where font/width consistency depends on using the correct comma form
  • Editing or normalizing text that was generated with halfwidth punctuation rules

Examples

、 Halfwidth Ideographic Comma (U+FF64)

  • 東京、大阪、名古屋
  • はい、承知しました
  • 速度、精度、安定性
  • 注意、この機能はベータです
  • 2019、2020、2021

Variations

Technical codes

UnicodeU+FF64
HTML Entity、
HTML Code、
CSS\FF64

FAQ

What does the Halfwidth Ideographic Comma letter mean?

The halfwidth ideographic comma (、) is a comma punctuation mark used in Japanese-style text. It is “ideographic” in the sense that it’s designed to fit East Asian typography conventions, but in a halfwidth form rather than fullwidth. Compared with the standard ASCII comma (,) it has a different width and visual rhythm, which can matter for alignment in fixed-width layouts, typography, and UI strings. It’s especially useful when you need punctuation that looks consistent with other halfwidth characters or when working with legacy encodings and character width rules.

What’s the difference between 、 and the normal comma , ?

、 (halfwidth ideographic comma) has a different width and East Asian punctuation styling than the ASCII comma (,). It’s used when you want punctuation that matches Japanese-style spacing and alignment rules.

How do I type 、 on a keyboard?

Keyboard layouts vary. If you don’t have a direct input method for it, copy it from this page or enter it using its code point U+FF64 in your editor/application.

How can I include 、 in HTML?

You can use the HTML entity: 、

What’s the code point and how do I use it in programming?

Its Unicode code point is U+FF64. Common escapes include CSS \\\\FF64 and JavaScript \\\\u{FF64}.