How Are Titles Written In Japanese?

Question

In English, titles are written with all words being capitalized with exception of certain noteworthy function words. Given this, what are the rules for Japanese titles? I know they exist, titles are clearly written differently; but what exactly are these rules?

Also, if you could give some example titles where these rules are being applied, that would be greatly appreciated. :)

PS. Someone told me that title rules are used when writing news articles as well, like in the body itself; is this true?

Answer 1

There is almost no rule specific to titles.

• A period is not used because a title is not a sentence.
• If English characters appear in the title, it's typically capitalized just like English titles, although this is not really an ironclad rule.
• If the title is long, typesetters try to avoid breaking a word into two lines. In main text, as you know, you can break words almost freely.
• Word usage itself can also differ. See what is the name of the abbreviated writing style used in newspapers?

Of course there are also differences of graphic design. For example, Japanese people love to decorate titles with fancy borders or frames with an illustration.